Ruins We Call Home
by Mooncloudpanther
Summary: (Re-written) Pumilee was a medic and soldier in the Thunderian army before Thundera's fall. After escaping the ruins of her home, she and another cat meet their King and his companions shortly after the fall of Avista. Even while struggling with her King's distrust, she is determined to serve him to the fullest, because that's what soldiers—friends do...
1. Prelude To Disaster

Allow me to welcome you all to the rewrite! I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Rating: T

* * *

_Battle cries resonated throughout the ruins, loud and fierce, accompanied by the sounds of arrows whizzing through the air, metal clanging against metal, and screams of pain and triumph._

_Underneath an outlook, two she-cats and a tom in medic uniforms bent down next to uniformed soldiers groaning and writhing in pain. Another cat, a tom, supporting a much larger and bulkier, currently limping, tom stumbled under the broken stone staircase against a mostly intact stone wall and its adjacent partner, which formed the foundation of a second floor to a building that was no longer standing._

_"Medic Captain! Squad Captain Saber took an arrow to his thigh...?" The panther looked down at the Squad Captain's thigh, where a crude arrow was protruding. "It doesn't look good..."_

_The Medic Captain, one of the two she-cats, looked over, her light blue eyes shining in the dusky-gray darkness. "Lepran, tend to Saber quickly. Pumilee will take over those two."_

_"Yes, Medic Captain." Pumilee and the leopard tom said at the same time, shuffling around. The mountain lion puma quickly tied off the bandage of her current patient whilst scuffling backwards to take the Medic Lieutenant's place. The wounds on the two were moderate cuts, but definitely needed to be disinfected, stitched, and bandaged. Maybe a crude bone or metal shard would need to be extracted first - but that wasn't anything the puma couldn't do._

_Quickly, the she-cat pulled hook-nose pliers from a leather satchel secured around her waist and leaned close to the shoulder of the first soldier. The cut there was shallow, but located very unfortunately for the tom. It was over the clavicle, a very bad place to be wounded as a whole. _

_After a moment, Pumilee spotted a very small bone shard and carefully gripped it with the pliers, and then did a double take to be sure there were no more shards. Once she did that, she set the pliers down on the stone beside her and reached for one of the many bottles of alcohol that were being used to disinfect wounds._

_She carefully dabbed some onto a cotton pad, and then poured a gentle rivulet onto the bare wound, instantly placing the cotton pad onto the wound while the tom hissed in pain._

_While she held the cotton on with one paw, she reached into her satchel again and pulled out a small jar of horsetail balm and a bundle of spindleweed. Once she had both of those out, she removed the cotton and immediately applied the horsetail balm, which would help clean the wound and keep it clean while she disinfected his other wounds and her stitching needle._

_He had a total of three cuts that would need to be stitched, but all thirteen would need have the balm applied at some point, and ten of those would also have spindleweed spread over them to keep the balm from being rubbed off._

_Paws working quickly, she stitched the wound on his shoulder after using the same cotton pad to wipe the balm off, then moved onto the wound on his chest - at which point he made a flirtatious joke that got her to snort in amusement - and finally to the cut on his thigh. She bandaged his thigh around his leggings, and his torso and arms bare, then helped him to put his tunic and chest-piece on so that he could resume fighting._

_Having finished with the first soldier, she crawled to the second one, who was less lucky. His wrist was broken, so she would have to set it, and he had a small cut on his cheek. The broken bone gave her a brief pause in her rhythm before she decided on how to handle the situation._

_He would definitely need a pain-killing herb, like Valerian. And because the bone hadn't broken through his skin, it would be possible for her to simply push it back in place and have him hold it while she quickly braced it with a splint._

_Once more, she worked quickly, carefully grabbing his wrist to be sure she had gauged the break correctly. Once Pumilee was sure she had, she tentatively began pushing the bone back into alignment. _

_It was all the soldier could do to not thrash around and scream. Instead, he whimpered in pain and bit his lip._

_Pumilee gave him a short apology and asked him to hold the bone there, which he complied to, while she got his splint, which was in easy reach._

_Leopara had been correct when she had earlier told Pumilee and the squad of medics that they would definitely want pre-prepared splints. They came in handy for quickly bracing a broken or dislocated bone._

_The puma quickly slid a small splint around his wrist and set to adjusting it, telling him he could remove his paw so that she could tighten it more. Having finished with his broken wrist, Pumilee moved on to the small gash on the soldiers cheek, pouring a little bit of alcohol on it and dabbing it up with a fresh cotton pad, then spreading horsetail balm on it and layering spindleweed over the clear ointment._

_"Alright, you can go. Be careful with your wrist, though." Pumilee stood and helped the soldier up, who thanked her and walked past her to his spear, and then back into the fray. Having no patients at the moment, the puma hunkered down on a knee and flickered her wrist. Her wrist-mounted bow sprung to life and she laxly notched a stone, just waiting for the first unfortunate lizard to come too close for their own good._

* * *

That very same puma now, two years later at the age of eighteen, eyed a necklace longingly. It hopelessly reminded her of her mother, Mina, whom she missed dearly. Before her mother's death, she had never had an eye for jewelry - but it could also be that she had grown since then. She'd been a little feisty, wild thing when she was a cub, disdaining all glittering gold and fancy dresses.

"Pumilee! Come on!"

But now, she regretted selling those dresses and jewelry after her mother died, all for the sake of money to live off of until she, personally, was old enough to join the military, or something. There were other ways they could have obtained enough money to live, such as serving as tavern wenches - the mere thought of her hot-tempered older sister, Pumyra, in a waitress' dress, exposing her shoulders and a fair amount cleavage, brought a smile to her lips until a laugh bubbled out. They could have worn an elegant necklace and perhaps a bracelet or even a few bangles to accent their outfits, and danced around nimbly, the dress' skirts twirling in the manner of sophisticated grace.

The puma laughed even more at the absurd thought of Pumyra willingly dancing and twirling like a lady of grace. Oh, the battle it would be to get her to dance to any song other than war and death!

"_Pumilee!_" The voice of an ill-tempered she-cat snapped, gaining Pumilee's attention.

She turned away from the necklace on display, still smiling, to look at her sister. Pumyra looked very unamused at the moment, scowling and with her arms crossed over her chest. "What?" She asked innocently.

Pumyra rolled her amber eyes and turned away, her two-tone russet mane, kept in a tail with her bangs loose, swaying in emphasis of her movement. It was almost theatrical, the way her mane swished behind her back, but also very entrancing.

"You said it yourself earlier; we're the only cats of the Second Regiment that are not preoccupied, which is why the Captain sent us to locate celebration-worthy meats, fruits, and vegetables for the celebration of General Grune's return tonight. We accomplish _nothing_ gawking at jewelry." Pumyra told her, voice with its usual hard edge.

Pumilee sighed and played with a stray dark russet brown tuft. "I know, I know, Pumyra. But, don't you ever regret selling all of our family jewels? The ones that we... I... didn't give to Aunt Montaina? And what about the dr-"

"No, I don't." Pumyra stopped again, amber eyes flinty as she turned towards her. "Quit wasting time over the past, nothing is going to change." With that, she continued forward.

Pumilee's shoulders fell and she lagged behind her sister, muttering at her back: "That doesn't we should forget about it." Then the letters she had stuffed inside on side of her surplice neckline jutted into her collar-bone, reminding her of her and Pumyra's task.

Pumilee looked around, looking for a food stall. Any kind: fruits, meats, vegetables - ooh! A spice stall.

With spring in her step, she quickly approached. "Hello, madam!" She greated the stall keeperess, who looked up from the small jars of spices she was straightening.

"Hello," The gray she-cat greeted, looking up.

Pumilee's eyes widened in recognition, "Celia? I didn't realize you owned a market stall."

Celia blinked, not recognizing the puma, and the corner of her lips twitched, "Only for today. My little girls are taking care of River-Way for the day."

"I didn't know Captain Jaggen had more than one sister..." Pumilee muttered. She tilted her head, examining the she-cat more closely. The puma had once met Jaleegua, the Captain's adolescant sister and a cleric. There was a resemblance between the two siblings - the same cheek-bones and pale blue eyes, and black manes. Both closely resembled the she-cat before Pumilee. Celia kept her mane split over her shoulders, just to be tied near the end, in front of her chest, and had compassionate pale blue eyes, and not too-high or too-low cheekbones, and full lips.

Pumilee had been told many times that she looked a lot like her sister; the two had the same athletic, yet curvy frame, same amber-colored eyes, and very similar markings and manes. Pumilee's markings were often described as softer and less sharp than Pumyra's, and her mane lacked the wing-like ridges that her sister's mane possessed.

"Oh, you're a soldier?" Celia chuckled, but Pumilee had thought it would be obvious considering her uniform, even if it was slightly modified. "How is my son? He rarely gets the chance to come visit anymore." She sounded very sad as she spoke, forlornly so.

Pumilee smiled, "The Captain is doing well. I don't think he particularily likes sleeping alone, in the dark - but he manages."

Celia sighed, "He still has no intentions of settling down with that pretty she-leopard?" Then she shook her head, "My son has no idea what a gift he has."

"Do toms ever, though?"

"Some do." Celia smiled fondly, "Ah, but what brings a soldier to the market on such a day? I was so certain that you all were tied up preparing the celebrations."

"Actually," Pumilee reached inside the over-lapping fold of her neckline, "We all are." And pulled a single neatly stamped envelope out and handed it to her. "My sister and I were tasked with aiding the Palace servants by your son."

Celia carefully peeled the envelope open and drew the letter out, allowing her eyes to skim over its contents. She chuckled as she finished skimming over it, "Of course! I will have my best spices set aside and marked for the servants to easily retrieve."

The jaguar smiled once more and then turned her attention to her task, meticulously inspecting each jar before putting it back down or setting it off to the side.

Pumilee smiled, then turned away to seek out another stall for preparations.

* * *

Pumilee finished giving out the letters with out delay and was returning to report to the Captain after an hour.

She made it up to the Royal District to see that the soldiers were nearly done setting things up, and that servans were going through and adding finishing touches. Captain Jaggen was casually standing with his arms crossed over his chest, watching Saber and a new recruit mountain lion tom were standing a large pole with streamers up. The pole didn't seem to be cooperating, so the adolescant mountain lion took a step back and his paw glowed blue, and then a blinding white that wrapped around the pole and stood it up with out difficulty. The gray colored mountain lion smiled and was given a thumbs up by Saber while Jaggen nodded and turned towards her.

"Hello, Medic Pumilee." He tilted his head towards her, allowing his paws to fall to his sides. "I trust your task is complete?"

"Yes, Captain." She responded cheerfully. "I even met your mother, Celia!" She smiled widely, clasping her paws together. "She's such a lovely she-cat! And so pleasant to be around too!"

Jaggen blinked blankly, and then brought a paw up scratch the back of his neck. "You did... huh."

Pumilee blinked and sobered, "Is that all you have to say? 'Huh'? She _asked_ about you, you know! Even in these times of peace, she was worried about you!"

He sighed and looked past Saber, towards the Medic Captain. "No need to get upset, Pumilee. I simply find it curious you ran into her. I imagine she also suggested I settle down with _her_..."

Frowning, Pumilee followed his eyes to the 'pretty she-leopard', Leopara the Medic Captain of the Second Regiment.

"Yes, and she also said you had no idea of the gift you have." Pumilee victoriously smiled at the frown that pulled on her Captain's lips and turned away.

"Before you leave, I have another assignment for you." Jaggen interrupted, readopting his unscathable demeanor. "I would like you to head over to the Leoun Prison. I have a feeling you will see why when you arrive." He didn't wait for her to respond before walking away in the direction of his lieutenant, Silvestor, and his elder brother, Percy. The two panther's were disagreeing over only-Thundera-knows-what.

Pumilee watched his retreating form for a moment before dutifully saluting, "Yes sir." She turned away and headed down the stairs of the Royal Distric and out of the gate, ignoring the glances the Royal Guards cast her.

That was when she caught sight of two tigers arguing, one was an albino wearing a black tunic with silver trims, an dark blue sash, and white leggings that tucked into his black footwear, similarily lined with silver. The other was, if she recalled correctly, Thundera's Royal Blacksmith, Sumtra. Sumtra wore very similar clothes, but with gold trims and an amber sash instead, and a golden bangle around either bicep.

Sumtra seemed to be very steamed about something the albino, who she realized was his son, Bengali, the _current_ Royal Blacksmith as he had inherited the position from him in the Winter, had done. No, it was difference of opinion, she realized, _relating_ to something Bengali had done. A very loud and clashing difference of opinion about how who-knows-what should be done or handled.

For a moment, she entertained the notion of trying to interrupt the two, but shook her head and continued on her way. The Royal Guards were just a few yards away if their argument got carried away.

The puma quickened her pace towards the Leoun Prison.

The Leoun Prison was one of the oldest and sturdiest of Thundera's prisons, second only to Cat's Lair's dungeon. It required very few guards to man it at any time, but the number of guards stationed in the underground prison was always increased during celebrations. Criminals had a track record of trying their hardest to escape during such times due to false assumptions that there would be even fewer guards than there normally was.

Key word: false.

Pumilee pushed the heavy metal door open inwards, causing it to grate on the stone floor. The sound was very loud and not too friendly on the ears, but that was how it had been designed - so that no cat could enter or exit without alerting the guards or any other cats around. She found it to be an excellent idea, if it worked.

Pumilee stepped inside and pushed the door shut behind her, allowing the darkness to swallow her until her vision adjusted to the dim torchlight. Three guards sat at a round table in the corner, playing a game of cards.

They seemed to have just resumed their game when another guard melded out of the shadows, brown eyes glinting. "So, Captain Jaggen of the Second Regiment sent a medic for these pathetic beasts? Make it quick then." Her dark purple tunic must have given her away, as purple was the color all medics wore. Dark purple happened to belong to combat medics.

"Captain Basten," She realized. The cat was Captain Basten of the First Regiment, known for his love of subtlety and deftness, dexterity and agility, and his ferocity with butterfly knives - along with his hate of lizards, who raided his town and killed most of its inhabitants when he was just a cub.

"How sharp you are." He responded, voice sharp, turning back down the hall. His brown eyes glinted, almost sympathetically, before he disappeared again. She frowned, why sympathy?

The three guards were looking up, between Pumilee and the shadows, before looking back down. Shaking her head, she took her first steps inside, looking inside the lizards' cells. The reptiles looked horrible, angry rashes and cuts, for want of better words, around their wrists, ankles, and their necks, and were littered with cuts from what she did not know. Simply put: their scales were rubbed raw in several places, and split apart in others.

_'Captain Jaggen was right. I see why he sent me here. Leopara... and Lepran... they hate the lizards for Lord Leopra's death... Leopara's father, even if she were illegitimate... he made sure she and her mother never had to struggle... and as his only legitimate child... Lepran was being groomed for the duties of a Lord.'_ Pumilee thought, her inner monologue pausing at intervals as she continued taking in the lizards wounds. She decided, _'Despite their compassionate natures... they would never help a lizard.'_ Unlike her. Pumilee would help any injured animal, be it cat, dog, lizard, or a mouse, she would help them.

"I need a key to get in," She pointed out to the three guards, turning towards them. One of the three, a dark brown spotted tom unlooped a ring of keys from around his belt and tossed the ring to her.

The keys _clinked_ and jingled as they soared threw the air. Effortlessly, Pumilee caught the large loop and turned to the first cell. "It's the gold key. The one with the roaring cat at its 'pummel'." He informed her, returning ot his game.

"Thank you," She said, finding the key. It was a beautiful key, even if it was a bit dirty and worn by now. It was obviously showered with tender love and care, and glinted proudly in the torchlight.

Not missing a beat, she unlocked the cell and hooked the keys onto her satchel's closest loop, and then pulled the door close behind her.

_'There's a total of seventeen lizards. Those cuts and rubbed-raw scales and flesh are infected. I will need to scrape the infected tissue off, and they will need something to lessen the pain.'_ Her eyes flitted over the lizards in this cell, hissing at her from the back. There were four in this cell.

Pumilee held her paws up in front of her, "It's okay, I have no intention of harming any of you. I was sent here to tend to your wounds. I'm going to have to give you Valerian so that I can disinfect your wounds." She explained, coming to crouch on her knees in front of them.

The first one, a sickly green lizard opened his mouth to speak, but she smiled. "I know, searching for compassion in a cat is like trying to squeeze water from a stone. But I guess you're all in luck today, because I have my own pouch of water with me, just for you all." She reached into her satchel and withdrew her pouch and offered it to them. At first, they only looked between her, smiling tenderly, and the pouch full of water. "Here, take a few drinks. I can always send the guards to refill it if you all empty it." The puma urged, leaning closer to them.

They shared a glance, and then the sickly green lizard hesitantly began to reach out, and then snatched the pouch.

Pumilee only smiled and placed her paws on top of her thighs while he investigated the pouch, opening it and smelling the water.

"The cat doesn't lie!" He exclaimed in a raspy voice, tilting his head back to pour water into his mouth. After a lengthy drink, he righted himself and wiped his lips off. "It's water!" He hurriedly passed it to the next lizard, who excitedly took an equally lengthy drink.

Pumilee preemptively stood and approached the cell door. "Guards, by order of a Medic, go retrieve me seventeen water canteens and pouches full of fresh water. You should be able to find empty ones in the storage and be able to fill them at the fountain."

The guards shared a glance, then looked at her stupidly. "Now, you fools. You were given an order by a medic, follow it." Basten supplied scarily from his shadowy haunt.

The three guards shot up out of theirs seats and pulled the metal door open with an ear-hurting screech, then pulled it close. Basten once again melded out of the shadows, and she heard several lizards scramble into their back wall. "To be quite honest, it bothers me that cats can show such compassion for lizards." He started, voice cold and devoid of emotion. He came to a stop before the cell she was in, brown eyes not matching his voice. they were curious. "I just hope... that such cats can show compassion for their own." He regarded her carefully.

"For some cats, but I've seen many cats worth more disdain than any lizard." Pumilee responded carefully.

"That is no lie. Every species has its degenerates; but that is what prisons and the death penalty are for." Basten's lips twitched, and he held her gaze for a long time. "I see, while you show compassion for war prisoners, that you spare none for an animal that commits crimes against their own species. You care, but you do not care unreasonably so. I can also see, that were this a battlefield, you would not be showing them this tender side of you. How very interesting."

Pumilee let her lips twitch into a smile as well, "There are times and places for compassion, during battle is not one of them. Before and after, however, are."

"You trully are his daughter." Basten turned away before she could respond, so she merely took a deep breath and turned back to the lizards, who seemed to have not heard her and Captain Basten's conversation.

The door opened with the same piercing squeal as before, and the three guards entered, each carrying six canteens and pouches of water.

"Give me four and leave an equal amount at all of the lizard cells." The spotted tom passed her five of his and took his last one, a canteen, and slid it inside the next cell over. "Why...?" A quiet growl rumbled in her throat. He had _replaced_ hers as though it had been defiled.

Pumilee nearly snarled and tossed it away, but instead set the extra, a pouch, down and returned to the lizards, crouching on her knees again, and handed them each their own water.

"Can I convince you to chew this Valerian?" She asked, reaching into her satchel for small, compressed bundles of the herb.

They eyed her a moment before sharing a glance and consenting.

"I've never met a cat that's shown us such kindness before. What is your name?" The sickly color lizard asked, after chewing and swallowing his bundle of Valerian.

Pumilee finished giving the guards their orders, which they then relayed to the other lizards, which were rather reluctant to take the water, let alone the Valerian. The guards set to explaining why they had to eat it, and then the lizards cautiously did so with veiled threats.

"My name? It's Pumilee." The puma answered, turning back to them while fixing the tail she had her mane tied into. It was much like her sister's tail, except that Pumilee kept her bangs in a partial tail that threaded through the full tail.

"My name is Iguan." He told her, making her smile.

"So, lizards _do_ have different races!" She exclaimed crouching down beside him. "Cats like to believe that we're the only species with different races, like lions and tigers and cheetahs, and mountain lions, of course." She smiled and needlessly added, "I'm a mountain lion. I'm just called a puma because I have a more 'down to earth' color palette." Realizing she was rambling, she closed her mouth and offered a smile. "I just need to wait a few more minutes for the Valerian's pain lessening side-affects to kick in before I can tend to your wounds. Will you tell me about your people? Do you have a family, Iguan?"

Iguan took another drink from his canteen, and then slowly began, glancing at the other lizards. "We also have many races, with different talents. But compared to you cats, our society is... underdeveloped. We have no good lands for agriculture, and there is no game in the lands we are forced to live in. That's why we raid your farms, and obey General Slithe. Some of us hate this war, we would much rather be home with our families, and be there when our little lizards hatch. Instead, we don't get to meet our children until they are old enough to be enlisted, and then... only if they are sons." He told her, brushing his claws over the canteens surface.

"I never... I never knew." Pumilee reached out to gently touch his shoulder, and then nodded. "Thank you for telling me something so personal. Here, let me tend to those now, please don't move."

* * *

"Where were you earlier?" Pumyra caught Pumilee's arm as she tried to slide past and into the arena unnoticed.

Tending to seventeen lizards' wounds had taken much longer than she had expected, and Captain Basten had forced her to take a scalding hot bath and change her uniform once she finished. In fact, he had threatened to wash her for her himself if she refused.

Pumilee had thought he was being ridiculous, but didn't want to force his paw and test if he meant that threat, which she was sure he had. So, she went along with it and took a scalding hot bath, dunked herself into cold water, and then dried up and dressed into another of her uniforms.

The good side to Basten forcing her to do so was that the only way Pumyra would find out was if Pumilee told her. But she had no such intention, and still did not.

"I was in the Leoun Prison. Can I go now?" She asked, trying to slip away.

Pumyra's eyes narrowed. "And why were you there?" She asked, her grip on Pumilee's arm tightening.

"Captain Jaggen ordered me to go there." Pumilee responded coolly, stopping.

"And tend to _lizards._" Pumyra grit her teeth.

Pumilee took a deep breath and yanked her arm away from her sister. "No one deserves to be treated like that for serving their people, Pumyra. Not cats, not dogs, and especially _not_ lizards. I wish you could see that."

Her sister pulled her lips back in a snarl, and then gave a disgusted snort. "No, they deserve worse!" One of the soldiers with Pumyra exclaimed, laughing. The other two soldiers laughed with them, Pumyra remaining stonily quiet, and Pumilee snarled at them.

"You all act like we cats are better than all other species, but we're _not._ They are _just like us _and we are _just like them,_ you damn fools!" Pumilee didn't wait for a reaction before angrily stalking inside the arena.

She heard a 'hmm' from to her right, just beside the entryway to the arena.

Pumilee turned to see Jaggen leaning against the stone wall. "Well said, Pumilee. Did your visit to the prisoners shed new light for you, then? I've heard you get defensive for lizards before, but never with so much conviction."

"Yes, it did Captain. They're just like us." She said, coming to stand next to him.

"Careful, you don't want to cause a riot." The jaguar laughed. "Just," He sighed quietly, "Enjoy the games. They've only just begun."

Pumilee nodded and looked at the ambient light that illuminated from the pool of water the gnarled roots or barren bush or severely disfigured tree - she was unsure of _what_ it actually was - grew from like tendrils, twisting and winding up into the sky. It was a beautiful scene, with or with out the competing cats clawing their way towards their objective: the bell.

She smiled slightly and watched, taking in every detail that she could.

* * *

**Author's note:** Alright, some differences I would like to point out from the original are Pumilee's attire and also her hairstyle. Next, well, almost everything, such as where she meets Jaggen, there's a new memory, which might act like an introduction to Pumilee's position as a (combat) medic in the military. Pumilee also meets Celia and Captain Basten (*is really unsure about his name, but will role with it) and sees Bengali and Sumtra (formerly Tygrus, but I decided to name him after the Sumatran tiger), the prison has a name, all of the scenes are longer, and this has much better quality, no?

I'll post Pumilee's new character sheet on my **DeviantArt** account, so _go take a look._


	2. The Fall of Thundera

Allow me to welcome you all to the rewrite! I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Rating: T

* * *

Pumilee leaned over the Watch Tower's railing, taking in every detail of the sunrise. It was a beautiful early morning dawn, the sun casting dappled shadows across the the plains surrounding Thundera's grand, sheer wall.

A few feet away from her, the Captain was conversing with General Lynx-O. Their conversation was hushed, making her curiosity nearly unbearable. From the bits she caught while trying not to eavesdrop, Jaggen was being reluctant about something, protesting: "Surely there is somecat more suited for that position?"

Pumilee straightened and turned to ask _what_ in the name of Thundera they were talking, but dark shapes moving on the horizon caught her eye. Her head snapped back to look and she narrowed her eyes and the horizon line, leaning over the rail once again.

The soldier next to her also leaned over the rail but with a telescope. A faint smirk pulled at her lipos, only to be washed away with a gape of horror. Those were... those were lizards! Many, many lizards!

"What... what is that?" The soldier asked, lowering his telescope.

Pumilee wanted to answer, but she was strangled by an unseen force.

Lynx-O raised a paw to halt his and Jaggen's conversation, walking forward to stand beside the soldier. He leaned over he rail and breathed in deeply, his milky eyes opening wide a moment later. "Even from this distance... Lizards! And there are many!" He turned and pointed to the horn instantly, "Sound the alarm!"

Jaggen nodded and, in a silver blur, jumped the distance from the Watch Tower to the large horn, and quickly blew into it, officially sounding the alarm.

Almost immediately, Pumilee could spot the army springing to action, cats in uniform heading to the Armories for their weapons.

Jaggen landed beside her and regarded her. "Go with the other medics to prepare your station behind the wall."

"But, Captain, I'm a combat medic. I'm meant to go out on the battlefield." She protested.

"Do as I say, Pumilee. Now." Jaggen turned to Lynx-O. "What would you like my Regiment to do, sir?"

Lynx-O stared straight at the horizon now. "I want all of your Stealth Division to meet with Captain Basten and his Stealth Division. Bring your Lieutenants to the Hall, where you all will recieve further orders."

"Yes General." Jaggen nodded and lead the way down the short flight of stairs from the Watch Tower to the Battlements, and then down the much longer staircase from the Battlements to the ground, which Pumilee and Jaggen all but ran and tripped, in her case, down. The jaguar once had to catch her when she tried to go head over heels into him.

Pumilee was breathing moderately heavily by the time she set foot on the stone of a Thunderian path, and sprinted towards the Medics' Hall of sorts. Of course, Jaggen was long gone in a silver blur by this point.

She had to dodge around a few carts pulled by mounts, which caused her fur to stand on end and to sprint faster, and skid into the open door of the hall the medics had claimed as their 'home base'.

"Ah! Pumilee, there you are! Get over here and help get everything ready!" Leopara called from near an empty, but prepared cot. The next moment, she was towards a cluster of four cots, "Those are yours. Get everything organized and prepared."

Pumilee nodded with an inaudible sigh and began organizing the jars of ointments and bottles of disinfecting alcohol and bundles of herbs in her sector. She frowned while her paws worked, she was a combat medic, she should be grabbing a pack full of all of this, and heading out onto the battlefield to take care of soldiers out there! Not staying behind to care for soldiers that were dragged here by their comrades after, maybe during, the battle!

"I know." Leopara came and crouched down beside her. "I know you would rather be preparing to go out onto the battlefield than preparing to host injured soldiers here, but I'm sure Jaggen has his reasons for wanting you to remain here."

Pumilee's lips twitched at the fondness and familiarity in Leopara's voice at the Captain's name.

It was plain for everyone to see that the two harbored feelings for each other, but it was confounding that neither had acted upon them. Perhaps it was as Celia had said, and Jaggen wasn't ready to settle yet.

"Don't you want to be on the battlefield as well, Leopara?" Pumilee asked, tilting her head to look into the leopard's light blue eyes.

Like her, Leopara was also a combat medic. Her uniform of dark purple was even more modified than Pumilee's, leaving her mid-drift exposed and possessing a metal-in front-dark-purple-cloth-in-back bustier. Pumilee's simply had no chest piece, and both wore form-fitting leggings that tucked into dark purple footwear.

She smiled, "Yes, I do. I would much rather be on the battlefield tending to wounds than in here." Then the leopard sighed and looked away, tucking a fallen bang behind her ear. "I have to leave now, Pumilee. Jaggen tells me that Lynx-O wishes to see the first seven Regiments and their officers."

Pumilee gave a terse smile and nodded. "Good luck, Leopara."

Leopara returned the smile. "You too, Pumi."

* * *

Not even an hour after King Claudus, General Grune, and Prince Tygra led the troops out to repel this attack, all hell broke loose _everywhere._ Outside Thundera's walls, and _within_ them.

The held-back troops found themselves deployed within the cities, trying to protect the citizens from lizards with... technology.

Hell had broken loose when a projectile propelled by flames zipped over Thundera's wall and straight towards the Palace with a thundering boom. More projectiles had followed, exploding everywhere and destroying anything in their way. These projectiles left only ruins and fire in their wake, and distilled chaos among the poplace and soldiers alike.

For a fact, Pumilee knew at least one of the bunkers had had a pillar collapse on its entrance, trapping the cats inside.

The puma took a deep breath and leaned against the broken wall of the building to her left. Fire burned vehemently inside the broken and falling apart hall, and several flaming support beams barred her path towards the door. The heat was unbearable.

One of the structures to be destroyed had been the Medics' Hall, and most of them were trapped inside or dead. A small group, however, had been 'trapped' on the otherside and were able to get to the door.

Fortunately, there had been no injured soldiers yet.

Pumilee shook her head and decided that her best chance of getting out would be to vault over the broken wall. She looked up, gauging the distance. It was about three times taller than her, but that would be child's play to jump over it if the flaming loft wasn't dangerously curving towards the broken wall. The loft would normally be up higher, but it wasn't being supported any longer on this side - not by its support beams and not by the wall.

Part of the loft's floor broke off from the rest, clattering towards the puma. She stumbled back, barely dodging the flaming wooden debris.

There wasn't anything to lose if she jumped, but she would definitely die if she stayed. If she jumped, there was a chance she'd live.

Pumilee took a deep breath and jumped, pushing off as hard as she could. a bit of the loft, a splintered edge of wood, scratched down her right-side back, making her hiss in pain as she continued vaulting over the broken wall's peak. She tucked herself into a ball as she came over it, and then uncurled as she came over it.

By a miracle, she stuck to landing and took off running out of the alleyway she found herself in. A small group of soldiers were engaged with a larger band of lizards in the square. The lizards held strange weapons that were dark green and sleek, and fire green balls of energy. From the hiss of pain she heard one of the soldiers gave as one of these blasts met his arm, she would assume they hurt.

With a flick of her wrist, her wrist-mounted bow spang to life and she notched a stone bullet from the ammo pouch secured around her left thigh. She released it and it wizzed through the air, striking one of the lizards scaly hands so that it - he - dropped his weapon - a 'gun' if she recalled the 'fairy tales' she had been told as a cub correctly. The gun clattered on the ground and a sword-wielding soldier didn't hesitate to strike the now defenseless lizard down.

Pumilee released another bullet, this one breaking the goggles of a different lizard. It hissed as it fell backwards.

The next lizard had already fired several blasts at her, causing her to have to run behind cover so as to avoid being hit. She dove at the last second, coming to a somersault stop behind the building she hid behind.

That was when she saw the rest of Thundera - everything was on _fire,_ and screaming resonated through the Kingdom.

Never had she felt so helpless.

Almost impulsively, she propelled herself towards the Palace with no real train of thought. She would stick to back alleys as much as possible and only fight when she had to. When she got to Cat's Lair, she would tend to her shoulder. She promised herself that.

The wound inflicted by the loft stung and bled down her back, but she would live. She'd been injured worse, so there was no way she'd let this slow her down.

Slow her down?

Pumilee slowed to a stop and creapt out of the alley way she found herself in. Glancing back, she wondered how she'd covered that much distance already, but shook her head and continued toward the clamour she heard.

She didn't know why it caught her attention so much until she saw that it Captain Jaggen assaulting an entire firing squad of lizards on his own. He barraged them with his immense speed, slashing them as he darted past them as a silver blur.

Within seconds, the 'fight' was over and the jaguar was sheathing his sword on his right hip.

"Captain?!" Pumilee exclaimed, unreasonably relieved and happy.

He turned to look at her. He looked tired and battered, and blood dribbled down the left side of his face and even more dribbled down his right arm. He had also abandoned his chest piece and his bracers, but his shinguards had somehow managed to remain even though they were scratched and marred and even shattered at the edges.

"Pumilee, where are the others?" He asked, approaching her.

She shook her head, "I don't know. The Medics' Hall was destroyed, but I think Leopara managed to get out."

Jaggen's lips twitched but he didn't linger on the subject. "General Lynx-O tells me that Prince Lion-O was ordered by his father to remain at the Palace. I sent a unit of soldiers to secure the Palace and ensure that he manages to escape... I know there is a secret tunnel in the Palace at least, but I don't know where." He looked troubled.

"I bet those soldiers don't either." Pumilee frowned, also troubled. "Do you have any idea where it is?"

"No, I don't." He shook his head. "But it doesn't matter anymore; Lion-O isn't there."

Her eyes widened in alarm as she ran beside the jaguar. "'Isn't there'? Where is he now then?"

Jaggen only stared straight ahead at the arena for a moment. "I don't know, but something _wrong_ is at the arena, so that's where I'm going."

Pumilee nodded and set her sights on the blue illuminated arena. A moment later, she saw black shadows leaping at the gnarled roots, only to be blasted back by purple lightning.

Pumilee skidded to a stop as a tremor shook through the ground. Jaggen had leapt forward.

She heard a rumble and the sound of stone breaking, and looked. Her eyes flared open and she leapt to the side, but was still buried in rubble. Her world went black almost immediately.

* * *

**Author's note:** Ah, so this chapter ended up being shorter than I expected! I also like this one more than its original counterpart, and I changed some things up here. Not as much fighting as there was in the original Chapter 2, but I think next chapter will make up for it. Well, maybe.


	3. Escape From Leoun Prison

Allow me to welcome you all to the rewrite! I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Rating: T

* * *

Pumilee slowly came to. She was sore all over and battered. She'd say she felt as though she'd been buried under rubble, but that _was_ what had happened.

Her eyes opened slowly to see very dim light through the gaps between the stone rubble that covered her.

Groaning, she pushed herself up, letting the stones clatter around her. Her shoulder protested violent and she remembered that she'd injured herself escaping from the Medics' Hall... how long ago?

She grabbed her shoulder and struggled to stand, looking around. Dust and ash had settled, but she could still see some smoke and fires burning. They were much smaller now than they had been before, but no less awful.

A dreadful silence hung in the air. The only sounds to be heard were clattering stones and her teeth as she shivered in the cold light.

And then, she heard a raspy, reptilian voice. "Another cat." She whipped around, flicking her wrist, only to be surprised to see that this was a small group of the lizards she had tended to when they first arrived.

The two lizards were equally surprised. "...You!" The closest one, now fully geared like his brothers-in-arms, exclaimed, sharing a glance with the other one.

He took a step towards her and she growled deep in her throat, taking a step back. She had to be careful where she stepped, otherwise she would trip, and she couldn't step back very far before she would back into a wall formed by the large stone chunk that had almost crushed her before. _'This isn't good...'_

Three more lizards creapt down from a slope of stone debris, also fully geared. "What is the ruckus for, Nihile?" One of them hissed. Subconsciously, she recognized the lizard's voice as Iguan's, but that didn't matter.

Iguan stopped as he looked her over. "You are... you're the cat that tended to our wounds... Pumilee." He said, mostly to himself. He then looked at the two lizards advancing towards her, "Take her to the Leoun Prison, I am sure a use can be found for a cat with her skills."

She hissed as the two lizards siezed her by her arms, struggling to get out of their grips.

Struggling didn't work so well. After spending more energy than she should have fighting, she stopped trying, breathing heavily. Her shoulder was flaring with new pain, and she could feel blood dribbling down her already blood-caked tunic and fur.

The lizards seemed relieved that she had stopped struggling, making the walk to the prison much easier. Iguan walked ahead of them, opening the heavy metal door.

The door, like always, grated against the stone floor painfully for the ears. She screwed her eyes shut at the sound and winced, but continued walking. From the glimpse of the prison she got, it was vacant. The small group of lizards led her to the fifth cell and unceremoniously shoved her inside, slamming the iron-barred door behind her. They didn't confiscate her weapons.

Not to be ruffled, Pumilee caught herself before she could fall, and turned her head to watch as the group of lizards marched away. Once she heard the metal door being shut, she let out a sigh and muttered to herself, "Is this what I get for helping you?"

In the cell next to hers, she heard a tom's bitter laugh. "What else did you expect from a bunch of lizards?"

The voice was terribly familiar, but she couldn't place where she'd heard it before. "Not this... not Thundera in ruins." She answered solemnly.

"Heh, it's really our fault for underestimating them... isn't it?" The tom responded, voice still bitter, but also resigned.

"I... I guess." She responded, frowning slightly. Was he right? Had the cats brought this on themselves?

They lapsed into silence, and she slid down the wall of her cell. She never made it to the Palace, and never cleaned and dressed her wound. Since she didn't have anything better to do at the moment, she might as well do that now.

* * *

Iguan felt conflicted about the fate of the she-cat. General Slithe had ordered that all cats that survived be captured, and that the Royal Blacksmith, a white tiger, had definitely better captured alive and not _too_ injured for 'Lord' Mumm-Ra's purposes. The Blacksmith's hammer, the Hammer of Thundera, also had to be confiscated.

Iguan had personally led some of the first troops into the cat's palace to find him.

There had been many casualties capturing him, but they had managed. After a moment's worth of thought, General Slithe had ordered Iguan and his squads keep him confined separate from other cats, even in a completely different prison. No other cats, perhaps save for the she-cat now, were in the Leoun Prison.

Iguan supposed he owed the she-cat for the unexpected kindness she had shown to him and his brethren, and he had no love for 'Lord' Mumm-Ra or Slithe.

He came to a stop at the room and examined the serving lizard that would be taking food to the two cats at the Leoun Prison. The lizard looked uncertain at what Iguan had just purposed, but he also owed the she-cat for her kindness, and bore no love for their tyrannical general.

"I-I'll do it. Give me the key and... and I'll slip into her food." He said nervously. Iguan heard a level of conviction in his voice that reassured him that the lizard wasn't lying.

"That isn't very original, Buli." Iguan told him. Regardless, he cast a glance around and then slid the golden key with a roaring cat's head at the 'pummel' off of the ring of keys and passed it to Buli, who gulped nervously and then hid it in the folds of his clothes.

It crossed the lizard's mind of what would happen if General Slithe found out about his insubordination, but he decided it didn't matter. It wasn't as though General Slithe would find out anyway.

Looking around once more, Iguan straightened and continued walking as though the exchange had not happened.

* * *

Pumilee had dozed off when she heard a deep growl, followed by a _clang!_

Her eyes opened in a flash and she heard the tom wordlessly snarl at the lizards. "Eat up kitties!" A wooden bowl full of steaming stew was set down just inside her cell.

She hissed at the lizard. He merely cast her a glance before following another lizard, who was holding a club with a gun strapped to his back, out of sight.

Pumilee stared after them for a second before letting out her breath.

"It's official: I hate lizards," The tom declared from his cell. She heard movement and then heard the sound of his own bowl being grabbed.

She chuckled and stretched for her bowl, "I'll admit that this has put a dampener on my liking of lizards."

She heard the tom give a 'hmmph', followed by a sigh. "I wonder how we let it get this far... how did we forget that technology and 'fairy tales' were real?" The way he said it was more akin to musing out loud. He chortled at the irony.

It was a bittersweet sound.

Pumilee inhaled deeply, fiddling with her wooden spoon and looking at the wall she was resting against. On the other side was a tom that sounded familiar, but she couldn't place _who_ he was. If they were to escape, they would have to work together, but first she needed a name.

"My name is Pumilee. I'm a combat medic in the Second Regiment... or, I was..." She bit her bottom lip and struggled against the sudden urge to cry.

By the gods, her people were _dead_ or in the very prisons that they had built, their kingdom was _destroyed,_ and the best possible fate that Pumilee could see for the cats' survival was _enslavement,_ but a quick death fighting would be more honorable. And Thundera's soldiers - her sister and her adopted family of the entire Second Regiment - chances were most of them had died on the battlefield.

"Bengali," The tom said, breaking her train of thought at a crucial moment. "I was the Royal Blacksmith... but I'm not anymore." He gave another bitter laugh, "We're all just cats with specialties now."

Pumilee's eyes, while bleary from unshed tears, widened. Bengali! She'd seen him arguing with his father earlier! No wonder she couldn't immediately place his voice even though it sounded familiar; he was much calmer, or pacified, now than he had been then.

"Do you know if the Royal Family made it out, Bengali?" She asked, setting her wooden bowl down. She sat up on her knees and turned to lean her forehead against the cold stone wall.

He gave sad sigh, "I know they didn't. King Claudus was murdered by Mumm-Ra, and the princes have been imprisoned at Cat's Lair."

"Mumm-Ra?" She breathily laughed, hysterical. She'd grown up believing he was just a fairy tale! But here he was, as real as technology, bringing with him the destruction of the cats!

"He's more grotesque than the stories lead us to believe." Bengali supplied, obviously trying to keep good humor. It was a very desperate attempt, but Pumilee appreciated it. It kept her from the mental breakdown she was on the verge on, if just for a moment. "Look, we need to get out of here _now._ Do you have any ideas how?" The urgency in Bengali's voice was very real.

Pumilee swallowed and turned back around and slid down the wall again. She looked around the dimly lit cell for something, _anything_ that could possibly aide them in escaping, but there was nothing. The cell was-

Something gold glinted in her stew. Confused, she reached for her bowl again and fished the object out. "A roaring cat's head." She murmured, eyeing the key in awe.

"What?"

"I-I have the key to these cells!" She exclaimed in disbelief. While slipping a key into a prisoner's food wasn't very original, she had to give the lizards props for not being complete gits.

"What?! How? No- never mind, that's not important right now." Bengali scrambled to his feet in his cell. "Quickly before the guards get back!" He urged in a hushed voice.

Pumilee nodded, "Right." She also scrambled to her feet and over to her door and quickly set to unlocking her cell door. The door unlocked with a satisfying _click_ and she pushed it open. It swung open with a dreadful creak, but she ignored it and moved to Bengali's cell, casting a glance around to make sure no guards had heard.

This was the first time she actually got a good look at the tiger, or any tiger. As was common knowledge, he was an albino tiger - the _only_ albino. His fur was all white with black stripes, but not too many. He had surprising baby blue eyes - surprising because of how empathetic they were. Not necessarily _expressive,_ but they definitely contained emotion and sincerity. He had robin egg blue markings around his eyes, arching down from the bridge of his nose to his cheek bones, and then back up to the top of his ears. His white mane was sparsely striped, had robin egg blue tips, and flared into two wings - albeit not as dominantly as Prince Tygra's. He also seemed a bit smaller than Tygra, but she wasn't sure, and had a straighter nose.

The next surprise came in the fact that he was wearing steel colored armor, including a black under-suit of sorts, a chest piece, pauldrons, bracers, thigh guards that were pocketed, and shinguards.

Bengali arched a white eyebrow, "Never seen a tiger in person before?"

"Um, no? Sorry." Pumilee apologized, realizing she was blatantly staring. He just chuckled good-heartidly. Of course, he was probably used to it by now. "Let's go." She said, swinging his cell door open while stuffing the key into the fold of her tunic.

"Wait, we have to get the Hammer of Thundera. If Mumm-Ra or the lizards learn how to use it, it'll be even more of hell for us cats." Bengali countered. "They confiscated it from me after bringing me here, and took it down that way."

She looked down the hall he was pointing. Of _course_ the lizards would take his Hammer of Thundera to the Confiscation Cells, where every prisoner's belongings were kept. She groaned, "How fun..."

"Yeah, I know. But that hammer is capable of a lot of things, good or bad. I'd rather we have it than them." He gestured with his paws as an invisible scale, then straightened. "Come on, we'll get my hammer and then leave. It'll be a fight once we open that door though." The tiger didn't wait for a response before running a paw on the right-side wall and very silently began to walk down the hall.

He kept his body twisted towards the opposite wall, as if he knew that was the only side the prison cells were on on the 'outside prison'.

Pumilee sighed, looked at the door, and then followed after him. Like him, she placed a paw on the wall and moved with the upmost care to be silent and go unnoticed. It was easy for her to blend in, but Bengali... even in the dark, white stood out against anything but white stone and snow. Thankfully, the vast majority of him was actually in black or steel-color. She was glad that his armor didn't glint like the key in her tunic, but rather seemed to... capture and absorb the light.

After several minutes of walking and suspiciously eyeing their surroundings, the two finally came across their first lizards. They pressed up against the wall, in the shadows, and held their breath as the two lizards sauntered by, laughing and mocking cats as a species for their predicament.

This angered Pumilee, but it definitely seemed to cause something to snap in the tiger.

Bengali stepped away from the hall when they had passed, and hit the far-side one as hard as he could with a right-hook.

That lizard crumpled to the ground like a house of cards in the wind.

He grabbed the second lizard by the head and spun, quite viciously, slamming his face into the wall, then let go and watched unsympathetically as he slid down to the ground, unconscious.

Pumilee didn't even get the chance to blink. "What... in the name of _Thundera_ were you thinking?" She asked, unable to believe this. What if other lizards discovered these two unconscious and they, themselves, were found missing?

"It's fine." He said, not leaving room for an argument, then he crouched down and grabbed the rifle of one of them. "How do these work?" He wondered aloud, only to strap it over his back while looking around.

Pumilee shook her head and crouched beside the far lizard and grabbed him under the arms, and then, not without a great deal of effort, dragged him into the shadows. When she finished tucking the two lizards in the shadows, she found Bengali patiently waiting for her. He was facing the direction they were headed, and cast a glance back when he heard her exhale. "Let's continue." She said, and he nodded, continuing to lead the way.

After a few more minutes, they turned a corner and Pumilee eyed the rifle on his back. "Why did you grab _that _anyway?"

"I want to know how their weapons work. For that I need to have one to examine and take apart." The tiger explained, casting a glance back. His tone of voice made it sound so obvious.

"Oh." She responded lamely, falling silent again.

Their silence lasted for several minutes, and was broken by the sound of reptilian voices up ahead. Bengali came to a stop and Pumilee peered around him. Four lizards were cackling at the doorway to the Confiscation Cells, which were parellel to the Leoun Prison's North wall. The only entrance to these cells, or series of rooms, she should say, was a door located at the center of the North outer wall. Straight across from that entrance was one of three entrances to the inner prison.

Her and Bengali could dispatch of these lizards with ease, she was sure, and then hide them just inside the inner prison's North entrance. Unless there were lizards guarding the inner prison, it should be a while before they would be discovered.

"That's the only way into the Confiscation Cells. We'll have to fight." She informed him.

He nodded and asked, "Do you still have any of your weapons?"

"Yes." She told him. "I have a spear and a hunting knife, and a wrist-mounted bow." She added, but that wasn't exactly an option to give to him.

"I'll take the knife." He responded, holding his left paw back towards her. She complied and unsheathed the knife in her right 'stocking' and placed its hilt in his paw. He grasped it tightly and then held it in front of him inverted, then flipped it so that he held it normally. "Alright, if your aim is good enough-"

"It is," She assured him.

"-then you should blind those four. I'll take care of them after that." He finished.

Pumilee nodded and flicked her wrist, then stepped away from the wall, but remained in the shadows. Carefully, she notched her first bullet, then released it and rapidly fired three more in suit. She had been counting on the two lizards that had their heads turned away from her to look in her direction, and they didn't disappoint.

Unlucky for them, the moment they did, a stone bullet shattered their goggles. Bengali didn't hesitate launching himself at them, knife once again inverted. To her surprise though, he didn't aim for them; he aimed for their weapons. He cut the closest lizard's rifle in half at the barrel, and then sliced the other rifles unceremoniously. Each slash of the knife was accompanied by a panicking lizard who tried to run, but was promptly knocked out by either a roundhouse kick or punch from the white tiger. Or, in the first lizard's case, their rifle blowing up in their face.

Pumilee couldn't help but laugh at that lizard's misfortune, and ran to high five Bengali. It was almost an impulsive reaction.

He simply smiled and complied to the high-five, then gave her knife back. "Thanks."

"Not at all. We should hide them and their guns inside there." She told him, pointing at the door on the opposing wall.

"Right," He nodded and hefted two of the lizards up on one shoulder and marched across, and then dropped them behind the door. While he came back for the other two, Pumilee gathered up their rifles and dropped them next to their owners. "Alright, let's go."

Once more, he didn't wait before waltzing through the open door. She sighed and followed after him, looking around.

She, herself, had never been in here. It was basically a long hall lined with doors at intervals. If she had to venture a guess, each of these doors lead to a decent sized room that held the belongings of each prisoner in the twelve sectors of the prison. This idea was further supported by the number of doors: twelve. Further more, each door had a number neatly carved into it.

"Um, I think we would have been in Sector One, so... that room over there?" She pointed to the one on the far left. Bengali nodded and headed towards it with an anxious spring in his step. Pumilee had a gnawing feeling in her stomach.

Listening to her gut instinct, she opened the door for the seventh sector, and then the eighth, ninth, and tenth. Dread began to settle in her stomach as she stared into the fourth room in a row to be clear of everything. Each room had a table against the back wall, and then the side walls were lined with open cubbies. In these cubbies should have been belongings to each of the seperate prison cells. There should have been items being checked in on the desks. There should have been boxes of crude lizard weapons and shackles stacked around and under the desks.

But there _weren't._ The rooms were empty. Horribly _empty._

"Got it!" Bengali called from the first room. She barely heard him, but snapped her head around to look at him as he approached. "We can leave now."

"Y-yeah. Let's go. I've had enough of this place." Pumilee nodded and followed him out of the hall. They entered the North hall just as several lizards were running in from the West hall, the way Pumilee and Bengali had come from.

The leader of them called, "Capture those two!" And then the fight was on.

Pumilee jumped up high in order to dodge a blast of energy. On her descent she fired several bullets in response. Her barrage focused on one lizard, who, under her constant spray of bullets, was knocked backwards on his back, the glass of his red goggles broken and his gun clattering out of his hand.

Bengali had rushed the leader, holding his hammer like a tonfa. The leader and two of the other lizards opened fire at him, causing him to skid to a stop and run to the right. He surprise-jumped at one of the two accomplice lizards, who was a bit to slow, and continued with his trend of using the hammer like a tonfa, squarely hitting the lizard in his chest piece. Surprise claimed the lizard's expression as he flew backwards a couple of feet, landing on his back.

Bengali just as quickly roundhouse kicked the second lizard's rifle away and tossed the hammer to his left paw. He struck this lizard in his helmet with a left hook.

Like the first lizard Bengali had knocked out, this one crumpled to the ground pathetically.

Pumilee shot herself a covering fire on her remaining two lizards. While they were shielding their faces, she reached behind and unsheathed her contracted spear. They recovered in time to see her rushing at them, swinging the spear. But, it was too late. The shaft of her spear connected with the midsection of the one on her right, and then she twirled the spear and brought it down on the clavicle of the left lizard. The second one went down instantly, while the first one was merely winded.

Not wasting a moment, she pressed her advantage and twirled her spear again. This time when she brought it down at an angle, slicing his gun in two, and then swung it at his feet, causing him to fall onto his back. He didn't get up.

Pumilee turned to check on how Bengali was doing with his three lizards, only to see him twirling his hammer before sliding it back into his belt loop. "Quickly! There'll be more soon enough if we stay!" She yelled, sprinting around the corner.

Bengali wordlessly followed, sprinting as well.

Halfway down the hall, she slowed to a jog, and then to stop. "Do you hear that?" She asked him. It sounded as though they would have more company soon. She flicked her left wrist and prepared a bullet.

"Yeah, sounds like trouble." He responded with a smirk, pulling the Hammer of Thundera free from his belt loop.

A moment later, and another patrol of lizards were running towards them. This time, Pumilee didn't let them say anything. She immediately barraged them with bullet after bullet until it became a stream of assaulting bullets.

They ran back, some of them blindly firing at her and Bengali. The two were forced to dodge aimlessly as blasts landed with out purpose too close to them, and some even zipping past them.

Pumilee dodged a blast to her head, tackling the ground. A blast zoomed straight at her, prompting her to roll out of the way.

The lizards mid-run seemed to realize the chaos they were causing, and once again advanced towards them.

_'This is bad, really, really bad!'_ Pumilee thought, surveying her and Bengali's current positions. She was sprawled on the ground, and he was doubled over, holding his side. His under armor was steaming, a telltale sign he had been shot, but there was no hole in the suit. Thankfully, he still had his hammer in paw.

But now, the lizards were firing barrages of energy at them.

Pumilee grit her teeth and launched herself forward onto her feet and ran directly towards the inner wall - no, she ran towards the _door_ to the inner prison.

Bengali caught sight of her movement and understood immediately, and dashed after her. He dodged several blasts by swerving and then leaping through the doorway. Pumilee quickly slammed the door shut and then pushed its bar down, so that it was locked.

"Hurry! There should be a way out on the East wing! If we go straight ahead-"

"-We'll come out in the East hall?" He guessed wryly, wincing. He pressed a paw against his side and took a few steps forward, re-sliding his hammer through his belt loop. "What are we waiting for?"

Pumilee wanted to take a look at his wound, but there wasn't time right now, so she merely followed him down the completely dark path. She was aware of a small moment in time when there was nothing on either side of her, and she realized they had come to the cross-walk. They continued past it to the next door and wasted no time opening it and running down the hall as if their lives depended on it, and they did.

To both of their relief, they encountered no lizards, but they could hear the clamour of lizards fast approaching.

Bengali rushed towards the heavy metal door and pulled it open, ushered her through, and then pulled it shut behind him. Like she had done with the previous door, he slid the door's outer locking bar down.

They sighed in relief and let out breathy chuckles. "Just a minute... then let's go." She said, sliding down against the door.

Bengali nodded in agreement and slid down beside her. "I hope this doesn't become a 'thing' for us. 'Hey, Pumi, are you up to prison-breaking again?'" He laughed, lightening the mood. They heard the door get slammed on, and only laughed again as the lizards cursed about it being locked and having to go around.

She smiled, "Agreed. We should probably hide though."

"Probably."

The two looked around and stumbled towards a nice slab of building, and hid behind it. Within minutes they were watching as lizards rushed past them, yelling and calling things out. "Say, Pumilee." Bengali started.

"Yes?"

"Can we..." He paused, and then shook his head. "Nevermind. We should be leaving. The Gate of Thundera is that way." He pointed towards the sheer wall. "Unless you know of another way to get out of Thundera, we should be heading that way, no?"

Pumilee eyed him for a moment and then nodded. "Yeah, we should move quickly and avoid any paths."

"Gotcha." He stood up cautiously and began to pick his way through the rubble. Pumilee stood as well, cautiously eyeing the surrounding area before following him. "There don't seem to be many lizards out here." He commented.

"They're clearing out and taking any valuables with them. Most of those room in the Confiscation Cells were completely empty." Pumilee told him. Of course, the first part was a guess, but she was probably right about it.

Bengali stopped and looked around. "That sounds about right. 'To the victor go the spoils'." He sighed and continued forward, climbing around a large chunk of stone.

"I suppose." Pumilee responded, squeezing through the gap that the white tiger could not. She looked at him, perched low on a stone to her right. "What do you think will happen to all of the cats they captured?"

Bengali slid down the stone and remained silent for a moment. Then he answered, in a heavy-hearted voice. "They'll probably be sold as slaves. Who knows what Mumm-Ra will do to the Princes? But... I get the feeling Mumm-Ra will have to catch them first."

Pumilee raised a brow, "I thought you said they were being kept at Cat's Lair?"

"We escaped, why not our two Princes?"

She fell silent, turning the question over in her mind. Why _wouldn't_ two princes be able to escape? Especially when one of them had had two lizards freed? Who was to say those two lizards hadn't indirectly freed them for Lion-O's kindness?

"I was starting to get scared that I'd never see sunlight again." Bengali mused. Pumilee's eyes 'opened' and she looked behind her. When had they left Thundera? "I know a few shortcuts, Pumilee. You were just spacing out too much to notice."

She nodded, "I see. Where should we go now though?"

Bengali stopped abruptly, causing her to bump into him. "That is a good question."

**End of Season One**

* * *

**Author note:** I hope you guys liked this rewrite as much as I did! I think this chapter was splendid. And long. There was also a considerable more amount of fighting than last chapter. Also... LAMPSHADES! Bwahaha! *Clears throat* Sorry.


	4. The Thundercats

Allow me to welcome you all to the rewrite! I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Rating: T

* * *

**Beginning of Season Two**

"Great, my socket wrench is broken too!" Panthro cursed. "I can't make repairs on the Feliner if most of my tools are broke or missing!"

Lion-O sighed. The past hour had been spent doing inventory on Panthro's tools. None of them had any idea how so many of them had gone missing or got broken. The few tools Panthro _did_ have were his combination, ratcheting box, and flare-nut wrenches and a screwdriver, several screws and nuts.

"We'll just go get you some new tools then," Tygra declared. Lion-O was glad someone could be dead-set on going to see how the cat-slaves were doing.

After the cats' loss at Avista, even though there _was _a victory to be had there, and Pumyra's betrayal, Lion-O just wanted some time to think about things and clear his head. The others had decided it would be a good idea if they returned to Thundera and the cat-slaves to remind them of what they were fighting for.

It was a great idea, but the Feliner seemed to disagree.

They had flown for part of the day, but her flight engines kept trying to shut off, which understandably concerned them all. Especially Panthro, who was still terrified of heights.

_He_ was convinced that some, if not most, of her wiring was shot and would need to be redone. That would be fine and easy, they'd be back up in the air in a day or two, but he couldn't remove the metal plating protecting the wires with out tools.

"There are a lot of things I'll need." Panthro warned the tiger.

Tygra didn't back down. "We'll just bring the Forever Bag with us. Besides, we're starting to run low on supplies anyway."

Panthro gave him a hard stare before caving in. "Fine, I'll make a list. Who's goin' with you?"

"I am." Lion-O interjected, not caring about the glance Tygra and Cheetara shared. Did they expect him to mope around all day? Sorry to disappoint, but he wasn't going to if there was anything he could do.

Omens purred its approval in the back of Lion-O's head.

"Alright, we'll leave whenever you're ready." Tygra gave him a terse smile, as if he knew exactly what was going through Lion-O's mind.

"We'll leave once Panthro gets us that list." He declared, jumping down from the rock he had been sitting on.

Tygra nodded and followed after Panthro into the Feliner.

Cheetara stood from the small rock she had been sitting on and approached him. "How are you handling things, Lion-O? You haven't spoke with any of us about it since Avista."

"I'm... I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Cheetara." Lion-O wanted to pretend that Avista had never happened, but he couldn't do that. Too much had happened there for him to 'just forget'. Too much pain had been inflicted in the stone room for him to open up immediately.

He turned and walked towards the Feliner himself, unaware of the Wilys and Snarf coming to stand beside Cheetara. "He's not fine, is he?" Kit asked in a small voice, looking up at the cheetah.

"No, he's heartbroken." Cheetara answered solemnly.

"I don't understand love." Kat declared. "At first I thought it was all mushy and gross, but it also looks painful now."

Cheetara bit her bottom lip and then began to explain what she thought love was. "I believe love... love is when you care about someone else so much that you put their well-being before yours. Even if you fight with that person, you still care about them."

Kit and Kat exchanged a confused glance with each other, and Snarf gave a confused _snya?_

Lion-O found Tygra sliding the Forever Bag's strap over his head and shoulder, and under his other arm so that it rested on his back. Panthro was furiously scribbling at a small slip of parchment. Finally, he held the slip out and Lion-O accepted it.

He looked over the list quickly and then nodded. "We should beable to get all of these at the nearby town. We should be back tomorrow, I think."

Tygra came over, "Ready to go Lion-O?"

"Yes, let's leave now."

Lion-O led the way out of the Feliner. "I'm pretty sure the town is in that direction." Tygra pointed forward. "It'll be a long walk. Might take us a while to get there, get Panthro's tools, and get back. Maybe a day or two."

"What are we waiting for then?" Lion-O responded, trying to sound upbeat. He led the way into the trees, Tygra walking next to him.

"We haven't had the opportunity to talk like this in a while." Tygra said. "Not since we were in the mountains, actually."

"Hey, yeah. How are you taking that? Being... being the last tiger?" Lion-O asked him, desperate for this conversation to not swing around to him. Cheetara might be merciful enough to give Lion-O more time, but Tygra wouldn't. He'd had a week of moping around, and he could tell his brother had, at times, wanted to cuff him up-side the head and tell him 'I told you so'. Tygra _had_ told him that he was only setting himself up for failure with Pumyra.

Tygra gave a sigh, "Is it... strange that I feel like there are other tigers out there?"

Lion-O blinked, "To be honest Tygra, there might be other clans of tigers, but I don't know. Maybe we should look for them, if they do exist."

"I don't think we have time for that right now, Lion-O." Tygra responded, turning his focus ahead. "But what about you? You've been quiet this last week."

As Lion-O had feared, the conversation had swung around to him. "I'm fi-"

He was interrupted by a cackle of laughter. "We've found you!" Lion-O and Tygra stopped dead in their tracks and looked up to see Kaynar and Addicus descending upon them. Tygra rolled forward at the last moment while Lion-O idiotically reached for Omens.

Kaynar wrapped him in a headlock while Addicus advanced on Tygra, clucking his tongue. At this time, Tygra had unholstered his gun, but hesitated aiming it at either of the two generals.

"Whis...kers." Lion-O breathed, struggling against Kaynar's hold. His lungs were already screaming for precious air, which he gulped for heavily while futilely trying to get free.

"Looks like we got 'em, Kaynar. Fufufu." Addicus laughed, grinning wolfishly.

"Now all we gotta do is kill 'em." Kaynar cackled, tightening his grip.

"Like we'd let you!" Lion-O heard a familiar, yet totally unknown tom's voice shout. The next moment, he was on the ground gulping for air, and Kaynar was being served his own medicine by - by a white tiger! Not only was Kaynar in a headlock, but he was also being dragged backwards so that he couldn't even get a good foothold to throw his shorter opponent off. Smart.

Tygra didn't hesitate firing at Addicus, who hooted and swatted at him with his club. A she-cat in a dark purple tunic landed on the monkey's back while he was swinging. The unexpected extra weight and momentum caused the monkey to sprawl on the ground.

"I wouldn't attempt moving, monkey." She said in a threat-laced voice, holding an unsheathed knife to his throat. "Soldiers don't hesitate to kill."

Lion-O blinked a few times. Was... was he seeing things right? Pumyra? But...

No. He noticed some differences.

This she-cat _was_ a puma and she _did_ look like Pumyra, but he got the impression that she was slightly smaller. The only other differences he could see at this angle were her clothes and the style of her mane.

Her mane lacked the wing-like ridges of Pumyra's mane, and itt seemed as though her bangs were kept tied back in a partial tail that, further down, was tied into another tail with the rest of her mane.

Her attire resembled that of a soldier's uniform, or, more correctly, that of a medic's. This included a dark purple tunic that was modified, leaving her mid-drift exposed, a single small pauldron - dark purple with silver lining - on her left shoulder, a dark purple bracer with silver lining on her left forearm, a silver bangle on her right bicep, white form-fitting leggings that tucked into dark purple footwear with silver trims, dark purple thighguards - the left of which also hosted an ammo pouch, and a dark brown satchel secured around her waist so that it rested against her left hip.

He took al of this in within seconds of seeing her, engraving every difference into his mind. This she-cat puma was _not_ Pumyra.

Kaynar started cackling even though he was cut off from his air supply, and Addicus soon began to laugh as well. The two cats shared a concerned glance but did not release the jackal or monkey.

"You two... seem like... fun! W-wait, who... are you?" The jackal strained to ask, his expression changing to confusion as he eyed the new puma.

"That's what I'd like to know." Lion-O grudgingly agreed. "Not that Tygra and I mind the assist, but who are you two?" He asked.

The she-cat twisted her head around to look at him and smiled. She had amber eyes, soft-appearing markings where Pumyra's had been sharp, and a warm smile.

"My name is Pumilee, I was combat medic in the Second Regiment... The reckless one over there is Bengali, your Royal Blacksmith." The puma said, casting the white tiger a glance. He gave a sheepish grin.

While she was distracted, Addicus threw her off. She gave a cry as she was slammed into the ground, only to be lifted up by her ankle as the monkey stood. He laughed as she pressed one paw to the ground and tried reaching for her knife, ignoring the steady dribble of blood that ran into her mane from her forehead. Addicus lifted her a bit further and she growled, trying to swipe at his hand with her claws.

"Pumilee, just _shoot_ him!" Bengali yelled, tossing Kaynar to the side. The jackal fell to his paws and knees as he sucked in air.

Lion-O slid his paw into the Claw and drew Omens, preparing to launch himself at the monkey, but he saw Pumilee nod and fall back down while flicking her left wrist. He was stunned to see a wrist-mounted bow. That'd been Pumyra's weapon of choice.

Addicus raised a brow, intrigued. But that left his guard down, and he wasn't expecting the bullet she shot at his left eye. Howling, he dropped her and jumped around, hooting and crying out in pain. Pumilee landed heavily on her back, but didn't waste a moment going for her knife and scrambling to her feet.

"Look out - Kaynar!" Lion-O turned to see Bengali wrestling with the jackal on the ground, at Tygra's shout.

"A bit late, don't ya think?" Bengali responded, pushing the jackal off. He reached down to his belt loop, and then, not even standing, launched himself at the jackal, who was preparing to jump at the tiger again. The hammer that he held inverted glowed a light blue and Lion-O heard Omens purr in his mind.

This hammer connected with Kaynar's jawbone, sending him skidding into the ground.

The blue around the hammer subsided and the four turned to where Addicus was just recovering from being shot in the eye, Pumilee backing away to a safe distance as she sheathed her knife. He glared murder at the four cats with his uncovered eye, and then they saw his anger channeling into something a bit more deadly.

Addicus found his club in his hands rather suddenly and launched himself at the four cats, who had come together into a small cluster. They all scattered, the puma leaping and then somersaulting as she touched the ground. Lion-O's dodge was much less graceful, with him rolling on his side as the ground where they had been standing was broken up.

Addicus paid no attention to Lion-O or Tygra, or even Bengali, but instead went after Pumilee, who rolled under and behind him as he launched himself at her again. His club hit vacant ground again and he whirled on her.

Lion-O wasn't sure what he should do. With how angry Addicus was, he wouldn't be surprised if he got squashed trying to block him. But, he also couldn't let the she-cat get killed.

Thankfully, just as he was preparing to awaken Omens, Tygra's bola-whip wrapped around the monkey's wrists and he yanked the monkey out of his leap towards the she-cat, who was now wiping blood out of her eyes. As Tygra yanked him, Bengali with his currently 'tonfa-'hammer hit him with a glowing right hook that sent him flying backwards a few feet.

Lion-O looked at them in confusion as the fist-bumped as though this were an everyday thing.

Pumilee however, gave a sigh of relief, earning his attention. "Maybe we should save introductions until we definitely have the situation under control?" She chuckled, so unlike Pumyra.

Lion-O rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Maybe he should have waited before asking the question.

"You know, personally, I think warnings are more effective if they come _before_ the attack rather than _after,_ or during." Bengali said, giving Tygra a 'really?' look. "But that could just be me."

Tygra shrugged, "You're _alive _aren't you?"

"Touche." Bengali responded nonchalantly. "But what are you two doing here?" He asked.

"We could ask you the same thing." Tygra returned.

Lion-O and Pumilee turned to watch the two tigers, both slowly realizing this may not end very well. Tygra had just been saying that he felt like there were other tigers out there and, considering that his entire clan was deceased, Lion-O thought he should be jumping with joy that there was at least one other _living_ tiger out there - well, maybe not _jumping._ That'd be totally out of character for Tygra.

They both folded there arms over their chests simultaneosly, which mostly scared Lion-O, and glared.

"We were heading into the nearby town to but some new tools for our mechanic. Do you know where it is?" Lion-O interrupted before the two got too far into what was starting to shape up into a weird sort of dominancy match.

Bengali grudgingly broke off their glaring match to look at Lion-O, and not in a hostile manner. "We do. We actually just left the town, go that direction for about a mile and you'll find it." He said, pointing past Tygra.

Pumilee sighed, "What Bengali means to say is that we'll show you the way."

"No, I mean they can walk on their own." Bengali responded, "They're big toms now." She gave him a hard look, which he returned. Lion-O shared a glance with Tygra and then fixed his eyes back on the two. "I hate you sometimes." He responded finally, shoulders falling.

"I would be doing something wrong if you didn't." Then she turned to Lion-O and Tygra, "We'll come with you to the town. After that, well, that's up to you, King Lion-O." She said.

"Please, just call me Lion-O." He said.

* * *

Pumilee stood back and watched Lion-O and Tygra barter for the tools and supplies on their list, accutely aware of Bengali's irritation. "You still haven't tended to your forehead." He said, also watching the two.

"No, I haven't." She agreed. "I will later though. When I have access to running water."

"Fine." Bengali said, letting the subject drop even though he was concerned.

If one thing was constant about Bengali, whose moods sometimes seemed to change on a whim, it was that he was always concerned about the well-being of those around him, and he didn't like killing. Not even lizards, whom he despised.

Actually, he didn't like fighting much either.

Tygra took the brown bag off and held it open while Lion-O called, "Braanken-Bass!" And stuffed all of the tools they had just bought inside. Her eyes widened in surprise and the shopkeeper's jaw dropped. Once he finished dropping the tools in, Lion-O straightened and gave the rabbit a smile. "Thanks!"

The rabbit's ear twitched and he just managed to raise his paw and twitch his fingers in good-bye as Tygra and Lion-O walked away.

Tygra re-slung the bag over his back as they approached. "It looks like we got everything on that list, but it's getting dark out. Maybe we should stay at the inn tonight, Lion-O."

"No, you don't want to do that. The innkeeper isn't very fond of cats." Bengali moved behind the two and pushed them towards the smithy. "However, Bunnack is quite fond of us. I'm sure he won't mind if we borrow his main room."

Tygra and Lion-O shared an unsure glance and Pumilee stared after them dumbly before giving a sigh and looking up at the sky. The clouds looked lovely against the darkening purpe-ish sky.

After another moment she followed after Bengali, who had ditched Lion-O and Tygra in front of the smithy. "Is this... a Blacksmithy?" Tygra asked, examining the weapons.

"Yeah, Bengali likes to spend part of the afternoon here. A lot of these better-quality weapons were crafted by him." She pointed the masterfully crafted ones out.

"Wow." The Lord of the Thundercats let out breathlessly, admiring the blades. "Not all of those are forged in cat-style though. Are you sure he crafted those too?" Lion-O asked, picking a dog-style forged sword up.

Pumilee chuckled. "What makes you think he only knows how to make cat weapons? We were in Dog City for a week or two, and he spent most of his time in a Smithy learning how to craft their style of weapons."

Lion-O set the sword back down and regarded her with that look again - like he was seeing a ghost. It didn't bother her too much, even if it unnerved her slightly.. "You two were in Dog City? How long ago?"

"Uh, a few months?"

Bengali came back out smiling. "Well, like I thought, Bunnack has no problem letting us sleep in his living room for the night, we just have to be mindful of his little bunnies hopping around." He turned back around and then paused. "Uh, warning: he has a _lot_ of little bunnies."

"Great...!" Lion-O and Tygra shared another glance and then followed Bengali as he maneuvered through the smithy. The forge was cold by now, so they didn't have to deal with the usual sweltering heat Bengali both loved and hated with a passion, and they quickly followed behind the white tiger as he picked his way through the almost black building. They could see light through the cracks of what had to be the door to the Blacksmith's house and then Bengali opened it and candlelight flooded out, momentarily blinding them.

Bunnack was a big brown jack rabbit with a scarred up muzzle and several burn scars on his arms and paws. He wore a simple leather jerkin and brown pants secured by a large belt. In addition, he also had a pretty white-and-brown mate and several little bunnies of all sorts of colors - those two were white and those three were ruddy red, that one was fiery and those two were black, those far four brown with russet tinges and those six were spotted.

"Bengali tells me you all got trapped in town for too long and can't make it back to your camp? Please, feel free to sleep where ever you want. Don't mind the bunnies, they're all pretty rambunctious, but will zonk out in about an hour." Bunnack greeted them, motioning them all inside and to get comfortable.

Pumilee spotted _another five_ bunnies, black with spots.

"How many do you _have?_" Pumilee blurted, flabbergasted. There-there were so many! She couldn't understand how _anyone_ could possibly want this many children, let alone give _birth_ to this many!

Bunnack laughed, "There's more, but they're all grown up. Thankfully."

She barely heard his last remark.

Bengali was already comfortable, running around with a couple of the older bunnies. "Lion-O, catch!" He called, throwing a Frisbee at Lion-O. Lion-O jumped in surprise and, by a reflex, caught the Frisbee. "Now pass it on to Bulah!"

"Uh... which one is Bulah?" He asked, looking around in confusion.

"I'm Bulah!" The fiery red one, a boy, called, springing up high for Lion-O and them all to see.

Pumilee suddenly understood why rabbits had such high ceilings and large homes. If they didn't, the little bunnies would jump straight through the ceiling! And in the name of Thundera, they had large families! She could never imagine any mated cat pair having this many. Most cats were quite content after their second cub, especially if that meant they had a son and a daughter. Of course, some cats liked having more cubs, maybe four or five. But _over_ twenty three? Uh-uh, no way!

The two white bunnies, young girls, came up to Pumilee and tugged on her paws with sweet smiles. "Can we braid you mane, miss?" They asked.

They proceeded to give her wide green bunny-eyes that were just too adorable to say 'no' to.

She knew she shouldn't allow their adorableness to claw its way into her heart after the incident with kougren cubs just over a month ago (long story), but her heart melted at those wide and begging eyes.

"Of course you can!" She agreed, letting them tug her away with excited cries.

The two whispered with each other as the led her to the couch, and then nodded. Once they nodded, the looked at her and hesitantly said, "We're going to wash your mane first, is that okay?"

Pumilee laughed, "Yes. That is fine."

Happily, they yanked her away from the couch and down the hall, before pulling her into a large room. With three more bunnies - all girls - that were gray in color and older than the snowettes. Excitedly, the snowy bunnies explained that they were going to wash 'the pretty she-cat's' mane and then braid it with flowers. These three bunnies, being only a few years older, Pumilee surmised, shared glances and then took Pumilee from the two and led her over to a 'bowl' on the counter, and set to washing her mane.

The one grabbed a jug of water and gently poured it, another grabbed the shampoos and conditioners (rabbits were big on mane and fur products, apparently), and the final one did the washing itself, running skilled fingers through Pumilee's mane and messaging her skull - which felt ungodly pleasant after being slammed into the ground by that monkey earlier.

She couldn't help but purr, which made the three chortle.

It was a strange sound - not harsh or unpleasant, but... different. It definitely didn't sound like a cat's chortle - which made sense, since they were rabbits and not cats. It was much lighter, maybe shriller, than a cat's laugh.

Once they finished washing her mane, they escorted her back to the two snowettes, who squealed happily and dragged her out of the room before she could say 'mouse'. Their sisters laughed and called what sounded like 'good luck!' after her. Pumilee barely heard them, but managed to call back, "Thank you!"

And then she was plopped on the couch with little bunny knees digging into her lower back, but she didn't mind.

"Should we braid a wild rose into her mane first, or a daisy?" One of the two asked, finishing with the first part of their French braid.

"Maybe a daffodil?" The other responded, grabby a basket full of flowers.

"How about a purple flower?" Pumilee put in, craning to look at the basket. The two exclaimed happily and the second one grabbed a purple flower. She didn't know the order the two went in with the flowers after that, but she knew there was at least one wild rose, daisy, and daffodil. And, she knew she would sleep very carefully so as not to ruin the French braid.

* * *

Pumilee pointed over Lion-O's shoulder. "Our camp is over there, we just need to get our bedrolls and we'll be ready to go."

Lion-O nodded and stepped to the side, "Why don't you two lead?" He suggested.

"Okay," Pumilee responded, stepping past him. She and Bengali had strategically located their makeshift camp beneath two large trees with sturdy branches, within walking distance of the river and the town. It wouldn't be too long before they came upon it.

Pumilee was curious as to why Lion-O and Tygra kept glancing at her like she was some other cat's ghost, but didn't say anything. She was sure it would come up in a conversation sooner or later.

Surprisingly, the group walked in a pleasant silence, but perhaps it was the atmospheric sounds of birdes chirping and keerals skittering around, _cha cha_-ing to each other, that made the silence enjoyable.

Before she knew it, Pumilee was pushing the branches before their camp away, then rolling her bedroll up.

The walk towards the Thundercats' camp, however, was like waiting for a bowstring to snap from tension. Perhaps it was because they had to walk back through the place Addicus and Kaynar had ambushed Lion-O and Tygra, she wasn't sure. What she did know was that it was also uncomfortable for the toms as well.

Tyring to relieve the tension, Bengali finally started up a conversation with Tygra. "Were you ever, uh, lonely as the only tiger in the Royal Family?"

Tygra took a moment before answering. "Well, yeah. There were lions and other cats around me all the time, but nevery any other tigers. What about you? Were you ever lonely?"

"Yes, but not in the way you imagine. It wasn't just as tiger per se, but more as a tiger _my age._" Bengali paused, looking at Tygra from the corner of his eyes. "Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, it does." Tygra looked back at him with an unidentifiable emotion before looking forward once again. "It makes a lot of sense."

With that, they finally arrived at the Thundercats' current camp.

Lion-O and Tygra were greeted by a cheetah she-cat, whom Tygra didn't hesitate to wrap in a hug before sharing a few words with her. She listened curiously and then looked behind Tygra to Pumilee and Bengali.

Pumilee gave a small smile while Bengali continued eyeing the camp. She saw two cubs, perhaps twelve years old, and a cat-pet amongst the group, and then a bulky, large panther easily over twice the size of Percy, also known as 'Gizmo', or Silvestor. The panther tom was scarred up, wearing a red spiked vest, and had mechanical arms.

"How do _those_ work?" Bengali asked, walking right past Lion-O and to this panther, whom Pumilee identified as Panthro. He was the only panther she had heard of being that big.

Bengali grabbed one of the General's arms and began inspecting it, which only earned a grunt from Panthro while he murmered something about a hydrolic system, complex wiring, and a bunch of other things that Pumilee didn't understand.

"Lion-O, who's the albino?" Panthro asked, clearly disgruntled.

Lion-O chuckled, "Oh right. Let me introduce Bengali and Pumilee. He's our Royal Blacksmith and she was a combat medic. Pumilee, Bengali, these are Cheetara, the twins WilyKat and WilyKit, and this is Panthro."

"Obviously." Bengali responded lifting the arm up. "Who made this? It's incredible!"

Panthro rolled his eyes and yanked his arm out of Bengali's grasp. "Ro-Bear Berbils."

"Ro-what?" Pumilee asked, breaking away from her introduction with the twins. Like Lion-O and Tygra, they had initially looked at her as though she were another cat's ghost.

And she knew who. There was only one cat possible: Pumyra.

It seemed as though the braid with flowers her mane was still in from the night before was enough to convince the two cubs that she wasn't _that _cat's ghost, and the she-kit took an immediate liking to her, commenting that she was really pretty before exclaiming:

"The Ro-Bear Berbils! They're really cute!"

The pet-cat hopped up onto WilyKit's shoulder and stretched towards Pumilee, and she gingerly ran her claws through his fur. "I've never heard of Berbils before." The pet-cat purred happy. "Who's this little guy? He's super adorable!" She cooed as she scooped him up off of WilyKit's shoulder.

The she-kitten laughed, "That's Snarf!"

Panthro snorted, "Tell me you got my tools so I can fix this baby up?" He addressed Lion-O, ignoring Bengali. The white tiger shrugged and meandered over to the ship.

Bengali inspected the outside of the 'Feliner' before prodding at the plating while Lion-O conversed with Panthro. After a few minutes, he opened a metal plating door and then raised a paw. "Question: did you try resetting the flight engines after leaving her 'passive' and not 'shut down' for a period of time? Maybe a few days?"

The cats all shared a glance, then stared at Panthro. Panthro remained silent, staring at Bengali, who stared back while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "I stepped into your territory... didn't I?"

Pumilee sighed and shook her head. Bengali never could leave things alone, could he?

* * *

**Author note:** Another long rewrite chapter! I definitely like this rewrite 1000x more than the original. Bengali seems a bit more... human (cat?) and complex now, like an actual character. The Bengali and Tygra bro moment is a sort of foreshadow to later in the story, bwahaha! Aren't I clever?


	5. The Cat-Slaves, Part I

Allow me to welcome you all to the rewrite! I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Rating: T

* * *

The Feliner was impressive on the exterior - white with red on the wings and 'neck', and gray just behind the red. The neck led to the helm, which was as reminiscent of a cat's head as Cat's Lair's effigy. Not to mention, the ship was _huge._

Now the interior - it was breath taking. The helm hosted three chairs at the front, a built-in bench to the left, and a terminal accompanied by a chair to the right. Green screens displaying data wrapped around two display screens, which enabled the left and right chair passengers to see what lie ahead, and around a much larger display screen located in the center, farther up. The leftern-most dashboard had _the_ Book of Omens set into it, and there were five tall windows on the right wall, before the terminal.

Not to mention, the ship had bunkrooms.

With actual beds.

Bengali admired the helm for a moment longer, giving a content sigh, his arms folded against his chest. The Feliner was a magnificent beauty of technology - nothing could compare to her.

That was when he heard Lion-O and Tygra enter, followed closely by the General. The panther was like a giant shadow that accompanied the King. Bengali got the feeling he still wasn't very pleased about his earlier poking around...

"When we get to Thundera, our priority will be helping the cat-slaves as much as we can, however we can." Lion-O declared, stopping and turning to the two.

"Right." Tygra and the panther nodded.

"You're up early, Kid." Panthro directed at Bengali, eyeing him carefully.

He shrugged non-chalantly. "Couldn't sleep."

"Bengali was on watch the entire night." Tygra added, giving the same non-chalant shrug.

"The _entire_ night?" Panthro exclaimed, voice still gruff but also surprised.

Lion-O remained passively quiet as he approached the dashboard, resting his paw on the leftern most seat. His other paw reached forward and fiddled with the Book of Omens.

Bengali frowned slightly. "Yes, the _entire_ night."

At first, Bengali had just layed on his back, staring up at the ceiling and trying to sleep. But his restlessness had finally gotten the better of him and he came up to the helm, where Tygra had been keeping watch at the time. The two had spent all of Tygra's shift talking about anything, from life as a tiger in Thundera to power stones and Mumm-Ra to what they intended to do when they got to Thundera. Bengali planned on looking for a small wooden lockbox that should be around the Royal Smithy somewhere. He didn't tell Tygra why _exactly_, but it was because his mother had written him a several-page-long letter for when he was older. Bengali figured it would be good to have that, or so he said. There was something specific he wanted to know, and that letter... it was his only chance of finding out now that _they _were gone.

Tygra planned on helping the cat-slaves build shelter for the coming Winter, at least. If they already had suitable shelter and food stores, he would help some other way.

Panthro gave a thoughtful grunt and walked past to Lion-O. "When do you want to leave, Kid?"

He and Tygra both looked at Lion-O, waiting for his decision, but didn't move towards him. Lion-O straightened, "Once the others wake up, we'll leave." He stated.

The panther gave him a strong pat on the shoulder, "Glad to see you're doing better, Lion-O."

Bengali quirked an eyebrow, but remained silent.

"So am I." Lion-O responded, giving a small, tense smile. "We'll have to resume our search for the stones soon though. We can't let Mumm-Ra get his hands on the final one."

"I'm not so sure we can spend very much time with the cat-slaves." Tygra added, "Knowing Mumm-Ra, he's already moving to obtain it."

"I'm not sure if we have any time at all." Lion-O looked back at the Book. A red web-like arrow was projected above it, pointing West and down. "It looks like the last stone is under ground..." He trailed off. He straightened again. "There's only one way to find out."

As if Lion-O's words were a trigger, Bengali found himself recalling one of his and Tygra's conversations the night before. The conversation had been started by Tygra, with the question:

_"What was it like growing up with your blood-parents?"_

_Bengali thought for a moment. How does one describe the only thing they've ever known? And at the same time, something they don't know? Sumtra was only the younger brother of his father, Javan._

_Should he say as much?_

_"That's, uh, a difficult question." Bengali started. Frankly, he had never put much thought as to what it was like other than 'normal'. "I don't have any other experiences to compare it to, after all."_

_"You're right." Tygra conceded, his lips twitching. "How about this: what were they like?"_

_"That's much easier to answer," Bengali laughed. "My mother, Tygala, was loving and playful. She was also very independent and beautiful and capable. My father," Suddenly the word felt heavy and awkward, and his tongue didn't quite pronounce it. He tried again, "My father, Sumtra, was fun too, but he was also protective and sometimes overbearing. But that's just how fathers are."_

_Tygra took a moment before responding, "They sound wonderful. You must miss them dearly."_

_"I... yes. I miss them both." He was taken by surprise by Tygra. In the last several hours, the others seemed to be mildly - and 'mildly' was putting it mildly - surprised about the amount of sincerity and emotion the other tiger was expressing._

_It also surprised him though. The first time he had met Tygra, when they were fourteen, he hadn't even been spared a glance._

_By either Prince._

_"What about you? What was your 'father' like?" Bengali asked, clearing his throat. The past was the past. Besides, it wasn't as though he hadn't been going through an emotional turmoil at the time._

_Gods, he had been glad when neither of the two had bothered him._

_"Claudus wasn't much different than Sumtra. He worried about me too much sometimes, since I was a tiger and he wasn't sure how he should raise one." Tygra answered a moment later. Then he sighed, "But my father, Javan... I didn't get to know him long, but I think he was like that too."_

_Bengali went rigid for an entire minute. Did Tygra say 'Javan' was his father? That couldn't be right, because Javan was Sumtra's only brother. His older brother. That would mean he and Tygra were brothers... twins even. And how could Tygra have _met_ him? Javan was supposed to be dead - the clan was supposed to be dead. How was it even possible that they could be alive?_

_He regained himself, forcing a small smile. "I thought our clan was dead, how ever did you meet him?"_

_No way in Third Earth was he going to say anything about his parentage. At least, not yet._

_Not until he found out, and there was only one way to find out now that he couldn't just ask his mother or Sumtra. The letter she had been writing for him since ever. It would be several pages long by now._

_Tygra continued eyeing him critically for a moment - Bengali definitely saw his resemblence to Tygala now, he had her brown eyes, but they were less emotional - before responding, "Well, they weren't actually alive." He took another moment before continuing, "After Javan betrayed the spirits, they released the disease back onto our people. None of them survived, but none of them passed on either. They were cursed to exist between life and death."_

_"I see..." Bengali trailed off._

_"The curse..." Tygra gave a sigh and his shoulders fell, his head turned up to look at the moons through the window. "It was one of pride. And it was broken by an act of humility..." A soft exhale, "I forgave him..."_

_Bengali turned his head to look out into the woods, folding his arms against his chest. To himself, he murmured, "Mother wouldn't have been able to..."_

_She had said as much._

That was when Bengali decided he needed to find that several-pages-long letter. His mother had once told him it would contain answers to questions he would have in the future. Maybe not all the answers, but it would have, at least, some of them.

"What do you mean 'it's underwater'?" Tygra asked, bringing Bengali back to the present.

Lion-O huffed hot-headedly, "I mean _it's underwater somewhere._"

"Third Earth is almost _all_ water! We could look for the stone the rest of our lives and never find it!" Tygra snapped, advancing on Lion-O.

"Tygra's right, Lion-O." Panthro ageed in a rumbling voice, crossing his arms. "And the Feliner isn't submerge-worthy.

"I know that!" Lion-O hissed. "We'll just have to find another way to find it."

With this, the lion turned to the book and fiddled with it some more until it showed a to-scale globe of Third Earth with the outline of the planet's land formations. Mountains and the ocean, mostly.

There was a happy little dot two inches into the globe, on the outline of the ocean floor - and by 'happy', Bengali meant 'evil' and 'devious'. It wasn't as deep as most of the trenches, but it was still deeper than a cat could dream of swimming.

"At least we know exactly where it is." Bengali added finally, causing all three of the toms to jump.

Well, Panthro merely twisted around in dignified surprise. But Lion-O and Tygra - they were flat-out guilty of jumping. And he would not let them forget about that for some time.

Either way though, it amused Bengali immensely.

* * *

As it turned out, Pumilee didn't take to flying very well, especially in turbulence. Which meant it was her turn to be miserable.

For the second time, since her and Bengali were counting the time she had been bit by a winged-sand viper. That had been a terrible experience, and she really had no desire to repeat it. Feeling like fire was shooting through your veins wasn't as much fun as some animals made it sound...

By 'some animals', Pumilee really meant snakes. The way they could laugh about getting bit by venomous beasts was really quite disturbing. Of course, they were also immune to most venoms and poisons.

Lucky bastards.

Why couldn't cats have a special trait like that?

She groaned as the winds buffered the Feliner with a passionate vengeance. Pumilee just wanted to go lay back down on a nice bed - and actual _bed_ - and go back to sleep, but Lion-O had wanted to discuss with all of them, this including her despite the way his gaze sometimes held hints of distrust, how they were going to find the next stone. Since the power stone was underwater, they would need a vehicle that was submerging-worthy.

Pumilee knew otherwise, but she was way too motionsick - which was a new experience for her - to say much of anything. And the feeling that she was going to vomit didn't help much either.

"Do you get motion sick on any vehicle?" The cheetah asked, eyeing her carefully.

To be honest: no. Pumilee had ridden on a lizard hovercraft before, when her and Bengali hijacked one, with out getting motion sick. She had even driven it for a little bit, while Bengali was working on concocting a bomb so they could collapse one of the lizard army's Thundrillium mines.

As it turned out, the blast radius of the bomb had been larger than what Bengali had estimated and the two had almost been caught up in its explosion. She distinctly recalled attempting to strangle him after that.

Ah, good times.

How unfortunate she couldn't really talk - that was recipe for disaster - so she just shook her head.

Bengali laughed, thoroughly enjoying her suffering. Granted, she kinda deserved it after relentlessly teasing him about his severe seasickness. "She certainly doesn't get _seasick._"

"You're not..." She covered her mouth with a paw, as her stomach churned angrily.

"I'm not... what? Going to let that go?" He asked, turning his seat, which was to the right of Tygra and in front of the terminal, where Panthro had his eyes glued to the green screens. He propped himself up on an elbow, giving a devilishly amused smirk. "After this I _might._ But revenge is too sweet to pass up."

Pumilee glared at him, and he continued:

"I mean, you're just so _perfectly miserable._ It's wonderful!" Then he turned back around a moment later, fixing his eyes on the display screen. "I have to hand it to you guys, the Feliner is a beauty."

"You're a... prick." Pumilee told him, moving her paws away from her mouth for just a moment.

He chuckled again.

"A Thunderian philosopher once purposed that motion sickness occurs in some cats because their senses of movement do not match." Cheetara said, her paws gently clasping Pumilee's shoulders, close to her neck. "In your case, Pumilee, you are motion sick because you can both hear and feel the motion caused by the turbulence, but you can't see it."

She raised a brow at the cleric, and then looked at the window. Even from here, she could see out it, and it didn't look like the clouds were moving very much.

And then she melted like puddy in the cheetah's paws as she rubbed circles on her neck and shoulders, loosening some of the several knots the puma was sure her muscles were in. Her motion sickness was completely forgotten; all that was left was the amazing feeling of being pampered - which she loved as much as the next she-cat.

Even Pumyra had loved being pampered every now and then, and she would have never ever said 'no' to a shoulder or neck or back rub if Pumilee offered.

Pumilee let out a soft purr, and she could faintly hear the toms talking. It was like whitenoise to her - far off, in the background.

"What did our ancestors use to go underwater?" She heard Tygra ask.

Lion-O responded, after a minute, "They didn't. On planets made up of mostly water, they sent the Tiger Sharks to secure the seas."

"Do you think that these 'Tiger Sharks' are the ones with the final stone?" Bengali asked.

It was strange, now that Pumilee listened to the two tigers with her eyes closed, she found that she had difficulties discerning their voices. The differences were subtle, but the most notable was the way they spoke. Tygra's voice was a bit more cynical.

"Vultaire _did_ say each stone was claimed by an individual species." Tygra responded. "It would make sense."

Pumilee weakly raised a paw. "You have something, don't you?" Bengali asked. She nodded. "Water breathing potion?" Another nod. "We'll still be crushed by pressure." She shook her head weakly.

Then she heard him stand up, and a moment later felt him dig into her satchel and withdraw her book, at which point she opened an eye to glare murder at him. He had better put her book back, or she was going to strangle him - just like she would in the 'good times'.

"Page number?"

She continued giving him the stink-eye. "Four-hundred thirty-two. It's in Ancient Thunderian." She warned in a displeased voice. He was interrupting her very enjoyable neck rub.

When she had met Bengali, he hadn't known any Pre-Thunderian or Ancient Thunderian, but he had slowly picked some of both languages up as they travelled - but still, neither of them knew how to speak it. That was always something they debated.

"Thanks for the warning." He responded, walking back to his chair.

Pumilee closed her eye again and hummed along with her purr. She definitely owed Cheetara a nice shoulder and neck rub after this.

"Alright, from what I gather this potion gives 'traits of domains'." Bengali stated, audibly closing the book. "It's not limited to water domains, but it applies."

"What do you mean?" Tygra asked.

She heard Bengali inhale deeply. He was thinking of how to word his explanation. "If we were to combine a feather from a birde or a bird, our own bodies would change temporary to resemble theirs. That domain would be 'air' - in other words, we would gain wings and the capability of flight."

And some other traits.

But, she didn't point that out. She probably couldn't even if she had wanted to.

"If we combined a fische or fish scale with this potion, we would be able to breathe underwater and withstand the pressure, then." Tygra clarified - it wasn't so much of a question as a statement.

She heard a deep grumble.

"So, this potion will get us down to the stone." Panthro stated, summing the discussion up in the simplest sentence.

Lion-O gave a thoughtful 'hmm' and asked a moment later, "What are the ingredients?"

Bengali snorted, "My Ancient isn't that good, so I'm guessing, really." He paused, "A few minor herbs, like tebra and Jabblejack and Jade Wasps. The major ingredients _sound_ rare."

"And those are?" Lion-O pressed.

Bengali gave a sigh, "I think... they would roughly translate to 'the Crystal-leaf Blossom', 'water from the Pools of Nirav', and 'leaves of the Kinana Tree'...?"

"The water is an amplifier, the blossom is a healer, and the leaves are the aspect that will cause the change." Pumilee put in slowly, relaxing even further. "There used to be many Crystal-leaf Blossoms, but they were over-harvested. The only remaining blossom is closely guarded in the Icenberg mountain range."

"On a whim." Bengali stated in disbelief. She imagined he was gesturing in some way. "You can't even pick a flower with out her telling you it's poisonous."

"Har har, like you've tried." She replied, smiling. "By the way, where are the kittens?"

Everyone froze.

* * *

"King Lion-O!" A cub excitedly called, rushing out of the treeline ahead of a slow-moving elderly tom.

Pumilee smiled as she watched Lion-O crouch down and ruffle the cub's ash brown mane. "Hello there...?"

"Pumo." He said, giving a toothy smile.

"Pumo." Lion-O smiled back. "You all look much better now." He said, directing his statement at a wizened, floppy-eared cat.

The old cat gave a toothy grin, "Ah, we all feel much better now. Come, my King. Come see how much better your people are doing."

Pumilee glanced at Cheetara, who continued looking forward with a small smile.

Lion-O followed as the cat led the way from the small ruins he and the cub, Pumo, had met the group, following a path that led towards Thundera, or what was left of Thundera.

Pumilee walked behind the kittens to make sure they didn't run off, in front of Bengali and Panthro, and next to Cheetara. Tygra walked just behind Lion-O, eyeing their surroundings suspiciously.

She half-expected the cub, Pumo, to leave the elder's side to walk with the kittens, but he didn't. He stayed right next to him, quiet even as the tom and Lion-O started talking with each other. When their path came to first large root that it didn't wind around, he, and Lion-O, helped the elder climb over it and touch the ground safely.

Pumilee couldn't help but smile at the sweetness of it.

After several minutes of walking, and these 'several minutes' more akin to half an hour, the tree-line thinned into a grassy field and the wall of Thundera came into view, as beautiful and majestic as it ever was, even when badly damaged and marred.

Pumilee stopped dead in her tracks, memories of that day flooding her.

_"What... what is that?"_

_"Lizards! And there are many!"_

_"Go with the other medics." Jaggen's features blurred from untouched to bleeding, cuts on his cheeks. "It doesn't matter."_

_"Jaggen has his reasons for wanting you to-" "I have to leave now."_

Blood, she smelled blood. Her shoulder hurt all over again, flaring to life with pain.

_She hissed, curling herself into a ball as she came over the wall. By a miracle, she stuck to landing._

_She felt hopeless and scared, like a cub who couldn't find their parents in a large crowd. Like a cub lost in the woods, turned around so many times they couldn't find their way home._

_Thundera was burning, her people dying. Being slaughtered or left for dead._

_"Where are the others?"_

_"-was destroyed." "Where is he now?"_

_"-Something wrong is at the arena, so-"_

Pumilee shook her head and followed after the others, who were talking to the elder tom once more, in addition to a few other cats. At a glance, she could tell these cats had suffered harsh conditions: extended starvation, dehydration, very little rest, exposure to the elements... and lacerations.

The final condition was noticed when she actually joined the group.

"-Any way we can." Lion-O finished saying.

Bengali nudged her, "You froze." He murmured, examining her carefully. She met his eyes, but didn't say anything. He added, "We all did, for a moment. But none of us were a soldier, like you."

He said it as though that meant she had seen more horrors that day, she realized.

"Except Tygra." She responded. He had led the troops with the King. He had seen death first-hand on the battlefield that day.

But death wasn't a new concept to her. Her father had taught her how to use a bow and hunt when she was just seven, and had taken her for her fist hunting trip, with Pumyra, when she was nine. Her mother had died when she was fourteen. She'd been a soldier for three years - she'd tended to soldiers with minor to fatal wounds, she'd seen soldiers die of many reasons - blood loss, torture, shock, a broken neck.

Death - she was well acquainted with death.

But destruction? The fall of her own Kingdom? Not so much, no.

That had been a very new experience for her and all cats, if she were so bold as to point out. Her freezing at the sight of the wall, when they merely hesitated, was a sign that she was handling what happened much differently.

The corner of Bengali's lips twitched into a frown, but he didn't respond, making her wonder what it was about Tygra all of a sudden that earned silence from the albino.

The elder tom gave Lion-O a weak smile. "Your being here, my King, is help enough."

"Elder?" The cub interrupted, looking at him.

"Yes, Pumo?" The elder looked down at the puma cub.

"I know a few ways they can help, if they really want to." Pumo said, straightening.

Lion-O gave a small smile and looked at him. "What do you have in mind?"

"Hunting. None of us here are very good at it, so we've mostly been gathering foods. And none of us know how to fight either, but those two soldiers are teaching some of the adults." The present cats gave murmurs of agreement.

"Two soldiers?" Pumilee interrupted, taking a step forward. Could they be...?

"Yes," the elder turned to her. "They introduced themselves as Bran and Saber, of the Second Regiment. They had a mountain lion companion as well, Dazz."

Her eyes widened for just a moment, and then she gave a happy squeal that caused all of them to jump in utter surprise. "Where are they? Do you know?" She excitedly asked.

The elder gave a small smile and answered in a weary voice, "As Pumo told you, the first two are teaching some of the adults how to fight. The third one, I believe, is helping us rebuild. They all should be over there." He pointed a claw past the group, further into the make-shift town.

"Great! Thank you!" She exclaimed, running right past him. She turned and called back to Lion-O and the others, "I'll meet up with you all later today!"

* * *

"Remind me why I was happy to learn you were alive." Pumilee dead-panned, resigning herself to being cat-handled by the saber-toothed tom.

Saber laughed, his shoulders shaking.

The only good she could find in this situation, other than she wasn't about to die, was that he wasn't wearing his pauldrons. That would be extremely uncomfortable. But, she was seriously reconsidering the placement of her knife. If she wanted to stab Saber in the back, which she did not yet, she would have to find an alternate means to do so than with a knife.

Maybe her spear in its contracted form.

"Saber, put our medic down." Bran demanded half-heartidly, keeping his arms crossed over his chest. His tail flicked with just an ounce of annoyance, but his maple eyes were largely unaffected, if a bit amused, by her being cat-handled.

She gave a huff as Saber turned towards the brown tom, by extension swinging her away from him.

"Where's the fun in that, Lieutenant?" He complained, turning back around.

Pumilee made a mental note to ask about 'Lieutenant' later. She was not going to ask as long as she was brooding because Saber decided to cat-handle her. And she would not stop brooding for some time.

She was stubborn like that.

Bran sighed and flicked his tail again, but didn't make a further attempt to help the puma. Then he looked over his shoulder to see Dazz, wearing a monk's attire, approach.

Pumilee was happy to see him, if a bit surprised by the new look - which she adored already. It looked more natural than his modified soldier's attire, comprising of a very pale blue coat-like robe with rolled up sleeves, white bracers, and dark blue leggings that tucked into his white footwear.

Saber turned his head to look over his other shoulder, grinning as Dazz got closer. "Hey Dazz..."

"Don't you dare." She warned, flashing a very concerned look.

"Catch!" And with that, he launched her off of his shoulder and right into the arms of the younger mountain lion, she, herself, giving a very surprised and terrified exclamation.

Dazz caught her with an effortless grace, giving a long sigh as he let her down. "Hello, Pumilee. Is Garth being himself again?" He asked in a light-hearted monotone.

"Really? The name?" Saber asked, giving Dazz a stern look.

"It's not polite to cat-handle she-cats, _Garth_." Dazz continued, letting a slight smirk pull at one corner of his lips.

"By Thundera, you're such a gentlecat, Dazz." Saber complained, "So polite and refined."

"As I was raised to be." The mountain lion responded evenly, but definitely amused.

Pumilee gave huff and turned away from the two. _'Toms.'_ It didn't seem to matter what cat race one was, they still enjoyed upsetting, not in the sad and about to cry way, she-cats. They must have got a kick out being given a death glare and a mad pout. It was like they all had death wishes or something.

Like snakes laughing about being bit by venomous beasties.

Except as masochists, not as sadists. They must have been gluttons for punishment.

Pumilee gave another huff and stalked away from the trio. The three watched her in confusion, then shared a glance, shrugging. She'd said 'hi' to the three, but she was quite done with them for now. In the meantime, she could help tend to the cat-slaves.

She imagined that would lighten her mood.

* * *

"Are you still going to look for those letters?" Tygra asked, standing next to Bengali.

The others had dispersed to help the former slaves. Lion-O and Panthro moved off to help with hands-on construction, while Tygra would, at some point, go off to help with architectural blue-prints. Cheetara was tending to some of the injuries that cats still harbored, and would likely be joined by Pumilee later - knowing her, she would get fed up with her fellows quick enough that she would join soon. The devious duo of WilyKit and WilyKat had volunteered to help with the gathering of berries and fruits.

Bengali imagined that he might help with the blue-prints for an hour or two before he left, and then some more when he returned. But for the moment, it seemed he was going to be stuck with Tygra again.

"Yes, I am. But maybe not yet." He responded, turning to look at the other tiger. "Why? Do you have something in mind?"

"No," Tygra confessed, an edge to his voice. "But I did want to talk."

Uh-oh.

That didn't sound good. "What about?" Bengali asked innocently. He could think of a few things the other tiger would want to talk about, particularily about the night before. Especially if he had overheard Bengali's remark about his - _their_ - mother, or if he didn't buy the reason he froze for a solid minute.

"Pumilee. She's Pumyra's sister, isn't she?" His voice was cold, emotionless, edged like a blade.

The question took him by so much surprise that he didn't answer for a full minute, just staring into Tygra's eyes. He was wrong; those weren't Tygala's eyes. They were too unkind to be hers.

"I didn't realize being family was a crime." He answered finally, voice dark.

"It's not." Tygra responded.

Bengali took a step towards him. "Why don't I believe you when you say that?"

Tygra growled deep in his throat.

"I'm going to go look for those letters now. Unless you need something...?" Bengali didn't wait for a response, turning on his heel. He really didn't want to fight with Tygra, or any cat. Especially not Tygra.

* * *

**Author's note:** Look at what Bengali's found out! About that... I was talking with my mom about those two when I realized something: they would find out they're brothers _way_ sooner than I originally had them find out. But to be dramatic, I'm gonna prolong Tygra finding out. Bwahaha! But damn, that got dark at the end, didn't it?

Oh, who caught the pun? Recipe for disaster. Ha, haha. I out-do myself sometimes.

(Birde is said 'byr-day' and fische is said 'fischk')


End file.
